Sky ABOVE Earth BELOW

H Splendid
stream edges under flat, partially submerged rock. These rare salamanders need cool, clean, moving water to live out
their lives. This salamander is listed as “threatened.”
• The Slimy Salamander is a very rare salamander in Connecticut and is found only at the far western border of our

Salamanders!
state. They spend much of their lives under forest leaf litter and fallen logs. Their name comes from the very sticky
glue-like substance given off by this salamander when disturbed. If you come across one of these salamanders, please
leave it where you find it. They are too rare to be kept as pets. The slimy salamander is considered to be an “endangered
species” in Connecticut.
Have you ever turned over a rock or log in the woods to find a small lizard-like creature hiding there? The habit of hiding in such dark
places helped give salamanders their name. Many centuries ago, salamanders were seen escaping out of piles of firewood that were used NEWTS
for heating and cooking. People thought these animals were coming from the fire and they gave them the name “salamander”, from a These very common salamanders go through three complete metamorphoses. After hatching, the Red-spotted Newt
Greek word for a mythical lizard that lived in fire. larva is green–brown, has gills and lives in cool ponds. During their second stage they shed their gills, develop lungs, and
Although salamanders look like lizards they are not dry and scaly and do not have leave the water to live on land as a bright orange Red Eft. Their coloration warns predators that they are not good to
claws. Instead they are amphibians with tails. Like their cousins, frogs and toads, eat. After a year or two on land, they change form once again and return to the
they are cold-blooded, meaning that they cannot make their own body heat and water. Their tail flattens out into a fin and they change color again to blend with
need their environment to help them keep warm or cool enough to survive. They the brown-green of a pond’s bottom and live out the rest of their years as an air-
live in damp, dark or wet habitats where they can keep their skin and eggs moist. Most salamanders live on land, but some live in water, breathing, aquatic salamander and Connecticut’s only newt.
but never seawater. Most salamanders have four legs, although a few species have only two. Salamanders are active mainly at night,
feeding primarily on insects, spiders, and worms. All salamanders breathe to some extent through their skin. Some may also breathe MUDPUPPIES
through gills, lungs, or the lining of their mouths. All are interesting creatures. Growing up to 17 inches in length, Mudpuppies are Connecticut’s largest
salamanders. Mudpuppies are aquatic and active year round. They are found in a
Interesting Salamander Facts: only a few spots along the upper Connecticut River. The gills on the sides of the neck are large, red and feathery.
• The earliest known salamander fossils have been dated to about 160 million years ago.
Threats to Salamanders
• Salamanders range in size from the 1½ inch long Minute salamanders, recently discovered in Costa Rica, to the largest, the six foot • Loss of their natural habitat: Many areas that were once suitable for salamanders
long Chinese Giant salamander. to live have now been destroyed or fragmented for construction and agriculture.
• Salamanders are the only animals with backbones that can regrow lost limbs, tails, jaws, eyes and a variety of other body parts. • Pollution: Salamanders have extremely absorbent skins. Pollution such as sewage
Some salamander species can detach their tails to escape predators. The tail drops off and wriggles around, allowing a salamander to run off, pesticides, oils, and other chemicals and toxic substances from construction
escape while its predator is distracted. Within only a few weeks of losing a piece of limb, a salamander regrows the missing body part. sites and human settlements can all be absorbed by salamanders.
Connecticut’s Salamanders • Road Crossings: When salamanders attempt to cross roads to travel between
Of the 550 species of salamanders that exist worldwide, twelve species of salamanders call Connecticut their home. Four of these the populations, or to critical breeding/birthing sites they are often hit and killed by
salamander species are Mole salamanders, so named because they spend most of their life beneath the leaf litter and in underground vehicles.
burrows. Six species are lungless salamanders that breathe primarily through their skin. One species is a newt and another, a
mudpuppy.
MOLE SALAMANDERS – Spotted, Marbled, Jefferson and Blue-spotted. FUN THINGS TO DO
On the first few warm rainy nights in late March, many thousands of Spotted salamanders emerge from hibernation to make the trip to • Find a vernal pool near your house and look for
their vernal pools, which are temporary pools of water that fill with melting snow and spring rains. They provide valuable breeding grounds salamanders. Listen for the quacking sound of wood
for mole salamanders as fish, a predator of salamanders and their eggs, cannot live in vernal pools. Jelly-like egg masses are laid at the
bottom of the pool and the adult salamanders return to the woods. In a few weeks, the salamander larvae hatch and feed upon a variety frogs in early spring.
of tiny creatures in the pond. In a typical summer, these temporary pools dry out after the larval salamanders develop lungs and leave
the pools to begin life in the forest. • Gently lift a few rocks and logs to find lungless
Not as common as Spotted salamanders, Marbled salamanders can be found under rocks and logs often near trap rock ridges. Unlike salamanders on your next walk in the woods. Be
most amphibians which breed in the spring and summer months, Marbled salamander females lay their eggs in dried out vernal pools in sure to replace the logs just as they were so as not
the autumn. The mother salamander wraps her body around her small egg mass to hold in the moisture and protect them from small to disturb the animals’ habitats.
predators. Eggs may hatch the same fall or winter if rains come, or over winter and hatch the following spring.
Like the Spotted salamander, Jefferson salamanders lay their eggs in vernal pools in the spring.
Jefferson salamanders often interbreed with Blue-spotted salamanders making it very difficult to tell
the two species apart. Both species are considered “species of special concern” in Connecticut.
FIND IT IN THE NEWS
Look through this week’s Hartford Courant to find:
LUNGLESS SALAMANDERS - Two-lined, Dusky, Four-toed, Redback, Spring, & Slimy. • Look for news articles on new developments in your area. Think about
• Two-lined salamanders and the stockier Dusky Salamanders live under rocks in shallow streams, how these new developments might affect salamander populations.
hunting for insects and tiny crustaceans. They can also be found along the edges of vernal pools and a variety of other habitats,
including under rotting logs in damp forests. Duskies do not lay their eggs in water, but nearby, under logs and rocks. Their larvae remain • Look for articles in the gardening section that mention using fewer
on land for a short period before entering the water to finish their development. pesticides and fertilizers.
• Four-toed Salamanders have four toes on their hind feet, unlike other salamanders that have five. Four-toed salamanders can be
found in deciduous forests under rocks and logs close to wet areas. They prefer to lay their eggs in
sphagnum moss along the edges of water, and the female will guard them until hatching. Next Page -
• The Redback Salamander is Connecticut’s most common salamander. If one added the weight of
all the Redback salamanders in a given area, it would be more than the weight of all of the birds and March 21st
about the same weight as all of the small mammals in that same area. They lay their eggs inside rotten
logs, and the larvae develop within those eggs, eliminating the need for water, and hatch as miniature  

versions of the adults. For students who are blind, learning disabled or print challenged, visit CRIS Radio at
• Spring Salamanders are one of the largest salamanders in the Northeast, some reaching a length of 8½ inches. They can be found at [Link] and click Kids On-Demand for a free audio version of Communicate Your Character

Sky Above Earth Below is a three part science literacy series presented by NIE in collaboration with
The Children’s Museum. For more information about NIE, visit [Link] or 860.241.3847