Super Salamanders

Salamanders are shy, slim creatures that spend most of their time crawling through wet leaves of a forest floor, or keeping themselves nice and hidden beneath a rock or fallen tree.

Like I was saying in the previous blog about frogs, their are a few other cool creatures that are also classified in the family of Amphibians along with frogs, and one of them is the salamander. You can see that salamanders don't look that similar to a frog or toad, because they have long, narrow tails and they don't have super strong back legs for hopping.

Salamanders can be easily confused with lizards, but there are a few ways that you can tell them apart. First, salamanders have four toes on their front legs and five on the back, whereas lizards have five on the front and five on the back. Also, you may see that a lot of lizards have claws or nails, but that is not the case for salamanders.

For some species of salamanders, their lack of lungs makes them have a special way that they can breathe through their skin, or for underwater salamanders, they would have gills like a fish.

You might of heard of or seen a newt before, and if you've spotted one before, your probably thinking: Newts look exactly the same as salamanders, what's the difference? Newts are more often mixed up or confused with salamanders than lizards, because there is really only one simple way you can tell a newt and salamander apart. And that is by looking at their tail. Below you will see a picture of a Red Spotted Newt.

When you look at it's tail, it is more skinny and flat than a salamanders, which is more slender and skinny.

Salamanders and newts are really interesting and neat little animals, but remember, if you see one in the wild, just leave it where it is, in it's natural habitat. Try not to touch a salamander or newt or bring it home. All animals belong in nature.