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salamander

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Tailed amphibian of the order Urodela. They are sometimes confused with lizards , but unlike lizards they have no scales or claws. Salamanders have smooth or warty moist skin. The order includes some 300 species, arranged in nine families, found mainly in the northern hemisphere. Salamanders include hellbenders , mudpuppies , olms , waterdogs, sirens, mole salamanders, newts , and lungless salamanders (dusky, woodland, and spring salamanders). They eat insects and worms, and live in water or in damp areas in the northern temperate regions, mostly feeding at night and hiding during the day, and often hibernating during the winter. Fertilization is either external or internal, often taking place in water. The larvae have external gills. Some remain in the larval form, although they become sexually mature and breed; this is called neoteny. The Mexican axolotl and the mud puppy Necturus maculosus of North America are neotenic. In 1998, five new salamander species were discovered in…
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Full text Article salamander

From Philip's Encyclopedia
The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra, top)...
Any of 320 species of amphibians found worldwide, except in Australia and polar regions. It has an elongated body, a long tail and short legs. Most species lay eggs, but some give birth to live young. The largest European species, the fire salamander ( Salamandra salamandra ), may attain a length of…
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Full text Article Salamander

From A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
This small amphibian, according to Pliny, could live inside fire because it was too cold-blooded to be burned ( Natural History 10.86). A notion also arose that the salamander could extinguish fire as well. Thus it was almost inevitable that it would be recruited into the fire imagery of passionate…
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Full text Article salamander

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Tailed amphibian of the order Urodela. They are sometimes confused with lizards , but unlike lizards they have no scales or claws. Salamanders have smooth or warty moist skin. The order includes some 300 species, arranged in nine families, found mainly in the northern hemisphere. Salamanders include…
| 322 words
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Full text Article salamander

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
an amphibian of the order Urodela, or Caudata. Salamanders have tails and small, weak limbs; superficially they resemble the unrelated lizards (which are reptiles), but they are easily distinguished by their lack of scales and claws, and by their moist, usually smooth skins. Salamanders are found in…
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Full text Article salamanders

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
Elemental spirits believed to live in fire. Alchemists believed that just as visible Nature is inhabited by living creatures, so the four elements ( fire , water , earth and air ) were populated by a host of beings known as elemental s – beings with bodies and spirits but no soul, which inhabited…
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Full text Article salamander

From The Macquarie Dictionary
any of various tailed amphibians, most of which have an aquatic larval stage but are terrestrial as adults, such as Salamandra salamandra, the European salamander or fire salamander of central and southern Europe. Plural: salamanders a mythical lizard or other reptile, or a being supposedly able to…
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Full text Article salamander

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Salamander (Salamandra terrestris) Credit:Jacques...
Any member of about 400 species in 10 amphibian families (order Caudata), commonly found in fresh water and damp woodlands, principally in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Salamanders are generally nocturnal, short-bodied, 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) long, and brightly coloured. They have a…
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Full text Article salamander

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
salamander fire salamander Salamandra salamandra...
Any of various small, tailed amphibians of the order Caudata, having porous scaleless skin and usually two pairs of limbs of equal size, found chiefly in northern temperate regions. a. A mythical creature, generally resembling a lizard, believed capable of living in or withstanding fire. b. In the…
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Full text Article salamander

From The Oxford Companion to Food
a noun but also a verb, indicating the use of a salamander to brown the top of a dish, often giving it at the same time a crisp crust. The equipment consisted of an iron disc mounted on the end of an iron rod, furnished with a wooden handle. The disc was heated red-hot, then passed to and fro over…
| 150 words
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It’s hair raising being a newt! This great...
There is no real difference between newts and salamanders. Newts are a subgroup ofsalamanders, which means all newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders arenewts! Newts generally spend more of their adult lives in water than salamanders.Both groups are amphibians. Andrias davidianus ... …
| 614 words , 13 images
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