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| S.corsica |
Widespread across Europe, North Africa and Parts of Turkey
and the Middle East can be found a variety of species of large, warningly
coloured salamanders. They vary from all-black in the Alpine Salamander S.atra to
almost all-yellow in some forms of S.terrestris. In warmer climates they are
mostly found at altitude, but in northern Europe they are found close to sea
level. Their typical habitat is woodland, either deciduous or pine, but most
forms require permanent or near-permanent water for their larvae, usually in
the form of shallow streams.
There is a certain amount of variation between, and even
within, the species, but they all give birth to live young. Mating takes place
on land, with the female entering shallow water to release gilled larvae. The
Alpine salamander takes this one stage further, with the female giving birth to
one or two large, fully terrestrial young.
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| S.atra |
The nearest relative of the Alpine salamander is the
Corsican salamander, S.corsica, and it is fairly widespread in the island,
especially in the central mountains. The snow-fed streams provide good habitat
for the larvae, which are produced in the spring and feed on aquatic invertebrates. From what I saw, pollution is
probably not a major threat, but more serious are introduced rainbow trout,
which prey on the developing larvae. At lower elevations I expect agriculture,
and tourism have had a negative impact.
The salamanders are mostly nocturnal, but can be found in
daylight, especially after overnight rain, and we were fortunate enough to find
one such crossing a path. They are slow-moving, deliberate animals, and as
adults I doubt they have much in the way of natural enemies as they carry potent
toxins in their skin and the large parotid glands at the side of the head. More
of a threat is traffic – unfortunately one of the commonest ways to find one is
squashed by vehicles on forest tracks, and that was in fact how we found the
first specimen.
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| ex-salamander |
They feed on a variety of small invertebrates, but in
captivity at least many seem to be especially fond of slugs and worms, which of
course is what brings them out after rain. How long they can live I am not
sure, but since once they metamorphose into the aposematic adults they must
have few natural enemies I would not be surprised if they can live at least 20
years, perhaps even longer.
In European folklore the salamander was a beast that was
immune to fire or even breathed it, and at first glance that is an on attribute
for an amphibian. It probably started from wood-burning fires in central Europe
– a hibernating salamander would be brought in with a bundle of fuel and be seen
trying to escape across the earth floor of a medieval house from the open
hearth.
(Photo of larva and S.atra from Wikipedia, rest are mine)
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