Salamanders are amphibians that belong to the suborder of the salamanders, the order of tailed ones. In appearance they are clumsy, the body is disproportionately thick with transverse folds and a rounded tail. There are many glands on the skin. Most of them are concentrated on the sides of the body, on the back and behind the ears. There are 4 fingers on the forelimbs, and 5 on the hind limbs. A very interesting and very mysterious creature is a salamander.
The animal is the hero of numerous legends and even fairy tales, and all thanks to the assurance that the amphibian does not burn in fire. Of course, you should not scoff at the salamander in order to verify the veracity of these words, but if it so happens that the animal gets into the fire, it will not die, but, most likely, will flee. The salamander lizard has mucus that is secreted from the skin. It is she who helps to avoid the negative effects of fire. By the way, due to milk and white secretions, this creature has been considered deadly to humans for many years.
The most common and famous is the fire salamander. The animal got its name because of golden-orange spots on a black background, sometimes it is also called spotted. The habitat of the amphibian is North Africa, Europe, except for the northern territory, Asia Minor. Wet and dark places are what the salamander loves so much. The animal prefers to hide under stones, tree roots, in holes during the day. The lizard feels great in forests where high humidity reigns. If hot weather persists for a long period of time and the required amount of precipitation does not fall, then the habitat in this place of the salamander is in question, since an amphibian cannot exist for a long time at high temperatures and low humidity.
The main disadvantage of the animal is its slowness. Because of this, they can not diversify their diet and feed mainly on snails, clumsy insects, earthworms. Sometimes they attack small vertebrates. Slowness is also the reason that the salamander becomes a victim of many predators. An animal can become a dinner for a shrew, raccoon, possum, owl. What is characteristic, the mucus of a lizard does not act in any way by predators, for them it is harmless.
The salamander belongs to the type of live-bearing animals, in appearance the cubs resemble tadpoles, like frogs. From the moment of birth to the very autumn they are in the water, and when it gets colder, they get out to land to hide more securely. In winter, all lizards hibernate. For a long time, people believed that the caustic mucus secreted by the salamander through the skin is deadly not only for small rodents, but also for large animals and humans. In fact, the poison of some species does harm, but it does not lead to death.
A salamander never attacks a person. A photo of this lizard demonstrates that it has no attack equipment. An amphibian does not have claws, teeth, spikes, therefore, to protect yourself from poison, just do not touch it. With prolonged contact with the salamander, mucus can enter the body even through the skin. The poison is able to affect the brain and central nervous system, so you should adhere to safety precautions when meeting with a lizard.
