Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 29, 1992 TAG: 9203260187
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Patricia Held
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salamanders are interesting creatures. Because of their secretive lifestyle they often go unnoticed, and the spring offers one of the few opportunities to find these creatures in the wild.
Salamanders are a small group of animals representing about 10 percent of all the amphibians. There are about 320 species in all, with 42 found in Virginia. Most seem to go unnoticed, but a few are found regularly, especially at this time of the year.
Although just as active as its cousins, the frogs and toads, the salamander rarely utters a sound.
As amphibians, salamanders share some of the characteristics of frogs and toads. They have a moist, soft skin that must be kept damp. Most are found in or near water or under forest debris and rotten logs. They also have a double lifestyle and spend a portion of their lives in the water and a portion on the land.
Salamanders are the tailed members of the family. With their elongated bodies, long tails and short, well-separated legs protruding from their sides, they look very much like lizards. But lizards are reptiles and belong in the family with turtles, snakes and alligators. Their skin is dry and scaly, and they lack the tadpole stage in their life cycle.
Many amphibians begin their breeding cycle very early in the season while the ground is still moist but warmed by the early spring sun. While most animals are content to remain in their burrows through the start of spring and until the warmer weather is here to stay, this is the time that most amphibians shine and give it their all.
Many Western Virginia salamanders are nocturnal, and they are burrowers, according to Sue Bruenderman, aquatic non-game biologist for the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. While some are common in our area, they are rarely seen except at certain times of the year, like their breeding time. Bruenderman said there are a number of aquatic salamanders that are commonly found by fisherman.
The red-spotted newt is among the prettiest salamanders, especially in its tadpole stage. It is also one of the most confusing because of its backward lifestyle.
Most amphibians spend their larval stage as gilled tadpoles in the water and move to land as they mature. The red-spotted newt spends its time as a larva or tadpole on land and its adult life in the water, the opposite of the typical amphibian lifestyle.
During its early life on land, it is known as the red eft. It is difficult to miss this creature with its bright orange body and red spots. As it becomes an adult it moves into the water, and its color turns to green with red spots.
Another common salamander, according to Bruenderman, is the red-backed salamander. It prefers the cool and moist woodlands of early spring and usually can be found under rocks and decaying logs. Sometimes the red-backed is found in a darker color known as the lead-backed phase.
Fishermen are likely to find the spring salamander, especially in springs and moist unpolluted areas.
Another common salamander found in springs and small streams is the northern dusky salamander. The seal and northern two-lined salamanders also are commonly in Western Virginia.
It takes a field guide to identify many of these salamanders, but the marbled and spotted species have such distinctive markings that they are easy to identify. Both breed in ponds and then return to moist hardwood forests when they mature. The spotted salamander has a black, stocky body covered with yellow spots. The marbled salamander is smaller and has silverish mottled crossbands over its black body.
Patricia Held will respond to readers' questions on the plant and animal wildlife in the region. Mail inquiries to: Patricia Held, P.O. Box 65, Goode, Va. 24556.
Patricia Held is the former director of the Nature Center Museum in Middletown, N.J. She lives in Bedford County.
by CNB