Michigan Salamanders
SALAMANDER FEATURES & FACTS:
- Mudpuppies (Proteidae), Sirens (Sirenidae), Salamanders (Ambystomatidae), Newts (Salamandridae), and Lungless Salamanders (Plethodontidae) all belong to the Order Caudata.
- Some species maintain larva features into their adulthood. Adult Mudpuppies and Sirens have gills.
- The Red-Backed Salamander spends its larval period inside its egg and hatches out in its adult form.
- Spotted Salamander egg masses appear green due to algae that grows in the egg membranes. It is believed that this algae is beneficial to the eggs by providing them with additional oxygen.
- In many salamander species, the female will stay with her eggs for at part of the incubation period.
- All salamanders can take in oxygen through their skin. The Red-Backed Salamander does not have lungs, therefore it obtains its entire oxygen supply through its skin.
- Salamanders absorb water through their skin.
- Salamanders have poison glands in their skin, usually concentrated around the tail and head, for use as a defence.
SPECIES:
BLUE
SPOTTED SALAMANDER
Size:3.5
to 5.5" |
EASTERN
NEWT (red spotted & central)
Notophthalmus viridescens (viridescens & louisianensis)
Size:.5
to 5.5" |
EASTERN
TIGER SALAMANDER
Size:7
to 9" |
FOUR-TOED
SALAMANDER
Size:2
to 4" |
MARBLED
SALAMANDER Ambystoma opacum Size:3.5
to 5" |
MUDPUPPY Necturus maculosus maculosus
Size:8
to 15" |
RED-BACKED
SALAMANDER Plethodon cinereus
Size:2.25
to 5" |
SMALL-MOUTHED
SALAMANDER Ambystoma texanum
Size:4.5
to 7" |
SPOTTED
SALAMANDER Ambystoma maculatum
Size:5
to 9.75" |
WESTERN
LESSER SIREN Siren intermedia nettingi
Size:7
to 16" |
Michigan Reptiles and Amphibians