Tailed amphibians, whose representatives are very few, are very similar in structure to frogs. But, unlike frogs, there are about 340 species of caudates. The caudate amphibians include newts, salamanders and salamanders.
External structure of tailed amphibians
Like frogs, caudate skin is bare, there are four limbs, but there is a tail. Outwardly, tailed amphibians look like lizards, although they have gills. The lines of the body are smooth, without sharp corners.
Limbs are used only for movement on land, tailed amphibians do not use them in water.
The eyes, like those of frogs, are covered with transparent eyelids that protect them from dirt and sun.
Habitats
Almost only in the northern hemisphere live tailed amphibians. Some species prefer to live in the water and only very rarely appear on land. Others, on the contrary, constantly live on land and enter the water as needed. These species are almost helpless in the water. And those who love to live in the water, on the contrary, will not be able to move normally along the coast. These species have very short legs. In the articletheir interesting photos are presented.
Tailed amphibians are predominantly nocturnal and spend the day in burrows, under rocks, in tree stumps or other shelters.
Eelers
These caudate amphibians live in Southeast Asia. But one of its representatives, the Siberian newt, lives beyond the Arctic Circle.
This is probably the only cold-blooded species that has made it this far north. The Siberian newt is a very ancient species, and most likely survived due to the fact that it has no competitors in the edge of permafrost.
The Siberian newt is able to survive low temperatures, and there have been cases when a Siberian newt was found frozen a hundred years ago in the ice, and it came to life after the ice melted.
Fire salamander
Salamanders have been known since ancient times not as an amphibian, tailless, but as a mythical character. It was believed that the salamander is not afraid of fire, lives in a stove or fireplace and protects the house from fire. According to another version, she was the spirit of fire.
But the brightest representative - the fiery salamander - was not named so for this reason. She just has a beautiful skin color: bright red and orange spots on a black background. And, like human fingerprints, the shape of the spots does not repeat.
The fire salamander lives next to other species of the so-called real salamanders. They reside in North America, Europe and Asia.
The Salamander has a long tail and legs without swimming membranes.
Giant salamander
Represents the familycryptogills, detachment of tailed amphibians.
This is the largest representative of the entire species of tailed amphibians. The length of the giant salamander can reach one and a half meters.
Mainly lives near major rivers in China and Japan. She loves the fast flow. Under large or overhanging stones, it spends daylight hours, and at night it goes out for prey. The giant salamander feeds on small fish, frogs, insects and crustaceans. Its mouth is equipped with small teeth, which are used to hold prey.
The body of this salamander is flattened from the sides, like the head. The tail is also compressed on the sides and participates in moving through the water.
The forelimbs of the gigantic salamander are thick and have four fingers. There are five fingers on the hind limbs.
The color of this species is heterogeneous, the back is painted in dark gray, with barely noticeable spots, and the belly is light and also with dark spots.
Currently, the giant salamander is rarely found in nature. She has very tasty meat, and she became the subject of the hunt.
Allegamian Hiddenbranch
Lives in North America and has a length of just over half a meter. In appearance it is close to the gigantic salamander. The color of the skin is light or brown, skin folds stretch from the sides to the edges of the hind legs.
Inhabits fast-flowing rivers, in the shallowest places. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle, except for the mating season. The Allegamian Hiddenbranch hunts in the water and very rarely rises to the surface.
Tritons
In ancient Greece, the male version of a mermaid was called tritons. But now newts are called amphibious caudates that live mainly in water.
The structure of the body of newts is slightly different from the addition of salamanders: the body is flattened laterally, and the tail has a small rim that resembles a fish fin.
Newt's legs are not too developed and poorly adapted for movement on land. In the water, he feels much more confident and swims with the help of his tail. During movement, the amphibian throws its forelimbs behind its back and uses them as a rudder.
Newts are nocturnal - during the day they sit in a shelter, and at night they go hunting. They feed on worms and insects. In winter, they hide in small groups in the foliage near the reservoir, where they plan to get out in the spring.
Tiger ambistoma
These tailed amphibians don't grow big. Their length is only 15-20 centimeters. There are eight subspecies. The head of the tiger ambistoma is round and large, and the body is thick.
The color of the animal is dark brown or dark olive with yellow spots.
These tailed amphibians prefer to live near calm waters - ponds or lakes. They rarely live near rivers. Like all other amphibians, they are nocturnal, and at night they get food. The tiger ambistoma feeds on insects, worms, molluscs and other small invertebrates.
This species can be kept at home in an aquarium. Also in some US states, the tiger ambistoma is listedprotected animals.
Pacific salamander
Inhabits the forests of Canada and the USA. Salamanders settle in holes, and do not dig them themselves, but use the shelters of small rodents. Or they find some object on the ground and settle down there.
The most interesting feature is the defense against enemies. The Pacific salamander is capable of throwing its tail like a lizard. She can also throw poison out of her tail.
When attacked, she resembles a cat: she stretches her tail with a pipe, arches her back and shoots poison. Most often, in this way she protects her masonry, but in some cases she can transfer it from place to place.
Black-bellied lungless salamander
Lives in the Apalachian mountains, which are located in the United States. Likes to settle near mountain cold streams.
The color of the salamander is black, with barely visible dark spots on the back.
The black-bellied salamander is very nimble and aggressive. Unlike other salamanders, he likes to get out of the water and move around the surroundings of his reservoir. Can jump over rocks, slopes and branches.
In case of danger, it quickly hides in the water and disguises itself among the underwater foliage.
The black-bellied salamander's metabolism is slow, so it eats infrequently and little. This species belongs to the lungless salamanders.
Common newt
Lives in the temperate climate zone of the Eurasian continent. Triton small in size, an adult can grow up to12 centimeters. Of these, 6 is the length of the tail.
The color of the common newt is brown, and the belly is yellowish. Multi-colored spots are scattered on the skin. To attract females, males are much brighter in color. During the mating season, the male develops a beautiful jagged crest of orange-blue color. It starts from the head and ends at the tip of the tail. The female in the mating season can also become brighter. In order to give birth, a newt must be over two years old.
The newt feeds on insects, worms, and small invertebrates. Mostly lives and hunts on land, hiding during the day and hunting at night, and hibernates for the winter.
Crested newt
This newt is similar to the common newt, but bigger in size. It can be up to twenty centimeters long. The skin of the crested newt is littered with small warts.
The skin is colored brown, and the belly is orange. Black spots are scattered all over the body.
The crest turns blue during the mating season to attract a female. Tellingly, the female does not “dress up” during mating games.
Like almost all amphibians, the crested newt is nocturnal. During the day, he sits in a shelter, and at night he gets food.
Asian newt
Represents the class Amphibians, the order Caudate, the family of true salamanders, the genus Tritons.
The length of Asia Minor newt can range from 15 to 17 centimeters. The tail is wide and slightly longer than the body. During the mating season, males have an elegant crest. On his back hereminiscent of fish fins.
The coloring of the Asia Minor newt is lead-olive and the entire surface of the body is strewn with spots. There are black and silver stripes on the sides. The color of the belly is yellow.
This amphibian lives throughout the Eurasia mainland, loves to settle in the mountains and forests. Chooses ponds with rich aquatic vegetation.
Leaves the pond only in summer and early autumn. Does not tolerate heat, can die because it does not go out to hunt. Hibernates for the winter.
The Asia Minor newt hunts for mollusks, invertebrates, spiders, worms and small newts.
The newt breeds in water. The larva of tailed amphibians emerges in about a month and begins to feed on the second day. It takes four months for a newt to fully emerge from a larva.
Females live almost twice as long as males - 21 years. And the male is only 12 years old.
