Marbled Salamander Interesting Facts

The male marbled salamanders have white bands and the female s bands are more silver grey.

Marbled salamander interesting facts.

The marbled salamander is a stocky boldly banded salamander. Did you know about these marbled salamander facts. Marbled salamanders are carnivores that hunt by tracking movement and smell. The tail of the marbled salamander is poisonous.

The bands of females tend to be gray while those of males are more white. A marbled salamander has an interesting life cycle. They prey on small insects worms slugs and snails. The male marbled salamanders arrive before the female ones at the prospective sites of breeding during breeding season.

Adult marbled salamanders live in damp woodlands often close to ponds or streams. Like most of the mole salamanders it is secretive spending most of its life under logs or in burrows. The second stage is a larva with gill buds. The third stage is a larva with developing gills.

A long term study conducted at the savannah river ecological laboratory shows that fluctuations in amphibian populations including marbled salamanders can be a natural phenomenon. Almost all carnivorous and omnivorous species in the animal kingdom think the marbled salamanders make a delicious snack. Adults can grow to about 11 cm 4 in small compared to other members of its genus. Adult marbled salamanders breed only in dried up pools ponds and ditches and females lay their eggs under the leaves there.

They are extremely unsocial and lonely creatures. These salamanders move primarily at night to decrease competition with other species and avoid predation risks. Marbled salamanders are very interesting species in terms of behavior. Like many salamanders marbled salamanders have poison glands in their tails to help deter predators.

Larvae feed on zooplankton until they grow large enough to hunt. Some salamander species can be poisonous and some even have teeth. The name salamander comes from the greek word for fire lizard. The marbled salamander is typically found in floodplains and low lying fertile areas dominated by hardwood trees.

Apart from their breeding season they hardly come in contact with others of its species. It gets its name from the white or silver bands that cover the black bodies of adult salamanders. Marbled salamanders are very defensive about their territory. A noxious substance that deters many would be predators is secreted from the skin of the marbled salamander.

These salamanders are occasionally can be found around dry hillsides but never far from a moist environment. Petranka 1998 unlike most other mole salamanders this species does not breed in water. Recently transformed young will wait for a rainy night before migrating away from the breeding site. Like many salamanders the marbled salamander has poisonous glands on its tail to protect it somewhat from predators.