Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
An axolotl regrows a lost limb by building a bud of progenitor cells called a blastema, and it does so without a scar. Here is how the process…
Salamanders, Newts and Caecilians
The quiet amphibians, from caves to underground.
Salamanders, newts and caecilians are the quieter amphibians. Salamanders and newts have tails and usually four legs. Caecilians have no legs at all and spend most of their lives underground, which is why almost nobody has seen one. Together they show how many ways a soft-skinned animal can make a living.
In this category: a salamander that regrows limbs, cave dwellers with no use for color, giants of cold mountain streams, newts that carry a toxin, species that keep their larval features for life, and animals that breathe through their skin. We end with migration and conservation, because amphibians as a group are in trouble.
Every conservation note on the site comes with the date it was checked. That matters most here, where new surveys regularly change what we know.
Nine questions in this category
- Regeneration
- Caves
- Giants
- Toxins
- Staying young
- Skin breathing
- Caecilians
- Migration
- Conservation
The species in this category
Play a round with any of them in the Terrarium to unlock the full article.
Chinese giant salamander
Andrias davidianus
The Chinese giant salamander is among the largest amphibians alive and is Critically Endangered in the wild, even though millions are kept on…
Hellbender
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls the hellbender the largest of North America's salamanders. It breathes mostly through its skin. That…
Mudpuppy
Necturus maculosus
The mudpuppy is a salamander that keeps its red, feathery gills for life and never metamorphoses. This article explains what staying young means,…
Olm
Proteus anguinus
The olm is a pale cave salamander from the Dinaric Alps with eyes hidden under its skin. It spends energy slowly, handles long fasts and may live…
Red-backed salamander
Plethodon cinereus
The red-backed salamander is a lungless amphibian that takes in oxygen through its moist skin and the lining of its mouth. That one fact helps…
Ringed caecilian
Siphonops annulatus
Caecilians are legless, burrowing amphibians that few people ever see. The ringed caecilian of South America feeds its young skin and a milk-like…
Rough-skinned newt
Taricha granulosa
The rough-skinned newt carries a potent nerve toxin called tetrodotoxin. Some garter snakes evolved resistance and eat toxic newts anyway, at a…
Spotted salamander
Ambystoma maculatum
On a few warm, rainy nights each spring, spotted salamanders leave their underground homes and walk to fishless breeding pools. Warmth and rain…