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TIGER SALAMANDER BY ALLEN BLAKE SHELDON Surprise! Find the hidden world oung of Minnesota’s six species of Y salamanders under logs and leaf litter. Naturalists Six Slippery Salamanders By JOHN J. MORIARTY n Kentucky, where I went to college, there are 36 species of salamanders. I enjoyed Iwalks in the woods because I could find at least one of these neat and interesting critters under every rock or log I turned over. After moving to Minnesota, with its six species of salamanders, I found out that looking for them under logs could be very tiring! Sometimes I would flip over several hundred logs and not find any salamanders at all. The first salamander I saw in Minnesota was a tiger salamander. Soon after that introduction, I had the challenge of explaining to an old northern woodsman that the yellow-spotted “lizards” he saw on the road were not lizards, but tiger salamanders. After I explained the many differences between salamanders, which are amphibians, and lizards, which are reptiles, he looked at me and said, “ I don’t see them lizards like I used to.” I hope he reads this article. move away from the Appalachian Most areas of the state have only one Salamander or lizard? Mountains. or two species, but all six Minnesota TIGER SALAMANDER BY ALLEN BLAKE SHELDON Salamanders live in most of species live in the northeastern corner Minnesota, from prairies to forests. of the state. Look under a rock or log. This is a smooth, moist salamander. alamanders and lizards are cold-blooded Sanimals. Both have Learn more about sallies. four legs and a long tail. Two good books are Amphibians and Reptiles Native to Minnesota by Barney Oldfield and Otherwise, they have many John J. Moriarty and Salamanders of the United States and Canada by J. Petranka. differences. Salamanders, The DNR and John J. Moriarty produced a video called The Amphibians of Minnesota. being amphibians (like frogs), For more information, call 651-297-4966. Hard-to-find and disappearing have moist, smooth This is a dry, scaly lizard. e have fewer salamanders salamander is a wetland or pond skin. Lizards, being in Minnesota today without fish. Unfortunately for reptiles (like snakes W because more roads, salamanders, fish have gotten into and turtles), have buildings, and farm fields block their many wetlands in recent years. Some dry, scaly skin. paths to breeding ponds and habitat. fish have traveled between wetlands Salamanders lay Another problem is fish. Because by swimming through ditches that shell-less eggs in the fish eat salamanders and compete for people dug. People have also stocked water. Lizards lay the same food, the best home for a game fish in some salamander waters. eggs with shells on land. FIVE-LINED SKINK BY BARNEY OLDFIELD Look for the answers to this quiz. Where to spot salamanders 1. Minnesota’s largest salamander is: he world has about 350 southern Appalachian Mountains. a. Tiger salamander c. Four-toed salamander species of salamanders. About That’s the greatest concentration of b.Red-backed salamander d.Eastern newt T one-third of these live in the salamander species in the country. c. Mudpuppy 3. Salamanders differ from lizards United States. The number of species that live in any d.Eastern newt because: About 50 species live in the given area generally decreases as you 2. Minnesota’s most dangerous a. They build fancy nests. salamander is: b.They have longer tails. John J. Moriarty is a natural resources specialist for Ramsey County Parks and a. Blue-spotted salamander c. They don’t have scales. Recreation. He has been working with and writing about Minnesota’s amphibians b.Mudpuppy d.They have long breeding calls. Answers on page 37. and reptiles for the past 17 years. Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2001 Life of a tiger Will these eggs hatch into “sallywogs”? mphibian means double life. spermatophore with the lips of her the pond bottom—up to 5,000 eggs Most salamanders do, cloaca (a single vent for reproduction during the next several days. A indeed, lead two lives: the and elimination of wastes) and After about 14 days, the eggs hatch, first in water as eggs and larvae fertilizes her eggs. She then lays and the small larvae begin a breathing with gills; the second on land clumps of 10 to 100 eggs at a time on hazardous life in the pond. Most of as adults breathing with lungs. the larvae will be eaten by predators Let’s look at the life cycle of tiger Name the larvae. before they can leave the pond. The salamanders, the most predators range from EGGS BY E.R. DEGGINGER, DEMBINSKY PHOTO ASSOCIATES common and widespread dragonfly larvae to great blue out. To stay moist, they might live in herons, with many other the leaf litter or under rotten logs. This salamander larva needs a fun nickname. species in between, including Tiger salamanders spend a lot of time salamander species in tiger salamanders. Yes, tiger in mammal burrows. They feed on Minnesota. salamanders! Salamander insects, worms, and other animals Adult tiger salamanders larvae are predators that will they find in the burrows. Salamanders spend the winter on land. eat anything they can fit in come to the surface only when the They hibernate under- their mouths. This includes humidity is very high, for example, at ground, below the frost their smaller brothers, sisters, night or while it is raining. line, in tunnels made by and cousins. gophers or other mam- Salamander larvae look very mals, or in tunnels they different from tadpoles. They dig themselves. Lured by have external gills (to breathe warm spring rains, the oxygen dissolved in water) and adults move to small TIGER SALAMANDER LARVA BY BARNEY OLDFIELD front legs even as very young ponds and wetlands just Salamanders and frogs, another larvae. Older larvae look after the ice melts. amphibian, both have smooth skin, similar to adults with the exception of Traveling at night, some of them jelly-coated eggs, and aquatic larvae. their gills. accidentally fall into window wells Frog larvae have interesting common After three to four months, the and swimming pools. Those that names: tadpoles and pollywogs. larvae go through metamorphosis: make it to a breeding pond pair up Salamander larvae are just called They lose their gills, leave the and do a courtship dance. The male pond, and start using their lungs salamander larvae. I propose we call An adult tiger rubs the female and nudges her to breathe. They will return to them sallywogs. Do you like this name, salamander can grow to around the floor of the pond. During the ponds only to mate and lay or can you make up a new one? Send more than 13 inches and the dance, the male deposits a their eggs. If they are lucky, they your ideas to Young Naturalists, DNR, live for 25 years. spermatophore, a small white packet 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN will repeat this cycle for 25 years. of sperm, on the bottom of the pond. 55155-4046. On land the salamanders need to The female picks up the use humid habitats so they do not dry GARY MESZAROS, DEMBINSKY PHOTO ASSOCIATES Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2001 Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) is Minnesota’s most common salamander species. Found in both prairies and forests, it is black with yellow spots but can vary from almost all yellow to all black. It is usually 8 to 10 inches long. The largest known tiger salamander in the United States, from BARNEY OLDFIELD Minnesota’s Douglas County, was almost 14 inches. Bait stores often sell larval tiger salamanders, which MAPS BY MATT KANIA, SOURCE: JOHN J. MORIARTY they call waterdogs. Tiger salamanders once were collected for medical research, but population declines and changes in research have ended this practice. This subspecies is found in western Minnesota. ALLEN BLAKE SHELDON Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is brown with a red stripe down its back and is usually less than 3 inches long. This species belongs to a family of salamanders without lungs. It breathes through its skin and mucous membranes. Unlike other salamanders, the redback lays its eggs on land, usually under a log or rock. The eggs hatch into miniature versions of the adults. It is the only Minnesota salamander that does not have an aquatic stage. ALLEN BLAKE SHELDON SKIP MOODY, DEMBINSKY PHOTO ASSOCIATES Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale) is named for the blue flecks on its black body. About 3 to 5 inches long, it lives in forests, especially north of the Twin Cities, and breeds in temporary woodland ponds, which sometimes dry up before the larvae get a chance to metamorphose. Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) transforms from a larva into a red eft and moves to land. This teenage stage can last a few months to several years. The eft’s reddish-orange color is a warning that it has toxic skin. Animals that try to eat this salamander will get sick. The eastern newt’s western cousins are so toxic that they have been known to kill people who have put them in their mouth. MAPS BY MATT KANIA, SOURCE: JOHN J. MORIARTY After the eft stage, the newt becomes an aquatic adult, mostly green with red 1 2 spots. Newts are 2 / to 5 inches long. In Minnesota, newts are most common GARY MESZAROS, DEMBINSKY PHOTO ASSOCIATES in the northeast. An eft is a teenage stage. BARNEY OLDFIELD Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) never loses its gills and is completely aquatic for its entire life.

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