'Salamander' (orig. from
Persian: sām, Fire, and andarūn, Within) is the common name applied to approximately 500 species of
amphibians with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails. The moist skin of the amphibians fits them to habitats either near water or under some protection on moist ground, usually in a
swamp. Some
species are aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Salamanders superficially resemble
lizards, but are easily distinguished by their lack of
scales. They are capable of
regenerating lost limbs. The earliest known salamander date back 161 million years , and were very similar to modern members of the
Cryptobranchoidea.
The name derives from an old belief that salamanders could walk through
fire, which is false.
Habitat
Species of salamanders are numerous and found in most moist or arid habitats in the northern hemisphere. Most are small, but some reach up to 5 inches (130 mm) in length. They live in brooks and ponds and other moist locations such as under rocks.
North America has the
hellbender and the
mudpuppy which can reach the length of a foot (30 cm) or more. In
Japan and
China the
giant salamander is found, which reaches and weighs up to 30 kilograms.
[1][2]
Salamander habitat is generally restricted to mostly the
northern hemisphere, with the exception of a few species living in the northernmost part of
South America. Although common on the
European mainland, salamanders are not native to the
British Isles.
Classification
There are ten families belonging to the order 'Urodela', divided into three suborders:
Popular culture
★ see also
Newts in Popular culture
;Literature
★ In
Karel Čapek´s science fiction novel ''
War with the Newts'', also called ''War with the Salamanders'', the species ''Andrias Scheuchzeri'' takes the main role.
★ Salamanders are occasionally mentioned in the
Harry Potter book series.
★ In Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel ''
Fahrenheit 451'', the salamander is used symbolically to represent the fireman's ability to burn literature yet 'regenerate' happiness to the people in the totalitarian society.
★
Harry Turtledove's novel ''The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump'' supplants many common objects and machines with magical contrivances. Salamanders are used in lieu of water heaters, and so-called "megasalamanders" are Turtledove's magical equivalent of nuclear weapons.
★ Salamanders are also known as minor
demons according to
lore.
;Gaming
★ ''
Salamander'' is a Konami shooting game which saw releases on many platforms after its arcade debut.
★ In ''
Earthworm Jim 2'', there is a stage where Jim transforms from an earthworm to a blind cave salamander.
★ In
Dungeon Keeper 2, salamanders are one of the earliest unit types available to the player.
★ In the
Kingdom of Loathing, players can cast a spell during combat which turns the enemy into either a salamander,
newt, or
frog.
★ In '', the Salamander is a DSS(Dual Set-up System) card, which enables the character to use fire magics.
;Animation
★ In the anime
Legendz, Salamander is an anthropomorphic caudate who is relegated a role as a minor character.
★ In the
Pokémon franchise,
Wooper and its evolved form,
Quagsire are salamanders;
Mudkip and its evolutions fill the same role.
Salamence is also a Salamander pokemon, hence the name;
Charmander is a salamander-like Pokémon with characteristics of the mythical salamander.
★ In
Naruto, the character
Kankuro has a defensive puppet called
Sanshouo, which means Salamander in Japanese. The puppet also has a strong resemblance to its namesake.
★ Cytomander, a character from the
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann anime series, has his name formed from the combination of Salamander and the chemical component
Cytosine.
Notes
{{FootnotesSmall|resize=
References
★
Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea, , Diego, San Mauro, American Naturalist, 2005
External references
★
Caudata Culture
★
Salamander Video
★
Caudatamedia
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
