Lungless Salamander

Family Plethodontidae

Amphibian

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing lungless salamanders. These salamanders really don’t have lungs for breathing. Instead, they breathe through their skin and the mucus lining of their mouths. So maybe you’re like me and immediately thought, well how the heck do they smell things, then? It’s not like they can inhale air particles without a means of doing said inhaling. But these little amphibians have it all figured out!

Lungless salamanders are the largest group of salamanders making up more than half of the known salamander species. Some live fully aquatic lifestyles and others live completely on land. Some even burrow below the ground while others actually live in trees! The one necessary factor in a perfect lungless salamander habitat, however, is water. These amphibians need moisture to breathe.

The most diverse place in the world in terms of salamander species is the Appalachian Mountain Range in North America. Lungless salamanders can also be found throughout other parts of North, Central, and South America; recently they’ve also been seen living in small areas of Europe and Asia! Currently, there are somewhere around 400 classified, living lungless salamander species, however new species are discovered on an almost yearly basis, so there could be many more. In fact, there’s belief that as vital habitats are lost to these small amphibians, we may be losing species before we’re even aware of their existence. I say “small amphibians” but maybe that’s slightly inaccurate.

The largest lungless salamander species can reach more than a foot in body length, though the smallest is only about an inch long - this, of course, is not including their tails. Lungless salamander tails may be just as long or even longer than their bodies! Their tails aren’t included in their length measurement, however, because they can drop their tails in order to avoid predators. Predators to lungless salamanders include birds, mammals like raccoons, snakes, fish, and even other salamanders. Along with tail dropping, some species are also able to secret a noxious chemical that makes them completely unappetizing to eat.

Most lungless salamanders are nocturnal. During the day, terrestrial species may hide under rocks or rotting logs. At night, they emerge to hunt food in the form of worms, mites, insects, and sometimes even other salamanders. Many species have big, round eyes, but those found in caves often have reduced eyes and may be entirely blind! Like other lungless salamanders, these blind cave salamanders likely get around using their sense of smell.

All lungless salamanders have a grove that extends from their upper lip to their nostril. When a lungless salamander presses its lip to a surface, water moves through this groove via capillary action. Capillary action is that phenomenon that causes water to rise over its surface level when a towel is placed in it - among many other examples. The water carries the scent particles to the salamander’s nostril and BOOM it can smell without inhaling! This is really important when it comes to mating.

Though they often go completely unnoticed, salamander populations may exceed those of all other vertebrates living in that same area - which basically means there may be more salamanders than any other group of vertebrates in that habitat, so they can outnumber squirrels, rats, or even birds depending on the place. They’ll smell each other by placing their lips on one another. No modesty here! Eventually they’ll mate and the female may retain her eggs for months before giving birth.

In some species the eggs are laid in water and the babies hatch as larvae that later develop into adults. This is similar to some other salamander species we’ve talked about previously. The process from larvae to adult may take months to up to five years in these species! There are other species, however, who produce eggs that hatch into fully developed adults, even if they hatch at less than an inch in length! In either case, the mother (and sometimes even the father) may protect the eggs from harm! Lungless salamanders likely like at least five years in the wild and may even live past a decade!

For more facts on cave salamanders, check out the link in the description. Thank you to George O for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!