What is a slamander?

A salamander is an amphibian who belongs to the order Caudata family Salamandridae. Both newts and salamanders are of the same family; newts however, are a sub-genus salamanders.

Salamanders have a moist skin that must remain so at all times. This is why they live near or in aquatic environments. They all typically have short noses, short limbs and long tails. Aquatic salamanders have a flat "paddle" shaped tail, whereas a semi-aquatic or terrestrial salamander will have a straight tail.

All salamanders go through metamorphosis. This starts as an egg, develops into the larval stage which is tadpole like in appearance, the animal then grows limbs and eventually loses its gills and crawls out onto land. Not all salamanders will become terrestrial, but they do all share a similarly terrestrial appearance. Axolotls will never leave the water as they reach sexual maturity with gills still intact.