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Portuguese Fire Salamander

Salamandra salamandra gallaica

Description:

S. s. gallaica have a great deal of dark red colouration on the body, frequently within patches of yellow The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is probably the best-known salamander species in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant. Shades of red and orange may sometimes appear, either replacing or mixing with the yellow according to subspecies. Fire salamanders can have a very long lifespan. A salamander lived for more than 50 years in Museum Koenig, a German natural history museum.

Habitat:

Fire salamanders live in central European forests and are more common in hilly areas. They prefer deciduous forests, since they like to hide in fallen leaves and around mossy tree trunks. They need small brooks or ponds with clean water in their habitat for the development of the larvae. Whether on land or in water, fire salamanders are inconspicuous. They spend much of their time hidden beneath stones, wood or other objects. They are active in the evening and the night, but on rainy days they are active in daytime as well. The diet of the fire salamander consists of various insects, spiders, earthworms and slugs, but they also occasionally eat newts and young frogs. Small prey will be caught within the range of the vomerine teeth or by the posterior half of the tongue, to which the prey adheres. The fire salamander can grow to be 15–25 cm long

Notes:

Spotted in my Yard,i dont know if is a pragnat lady or a fat guy that haved a extra meal :-)

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19 Comments

Thanks J,this one have the glands super big,i have to load a spotting of one imensely fat,that we saw in the yard this week,the photos are not nothing much but the situation is anormal,it look like is a preagnent female

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 10 years ago

Wow! Look at those parotid glands!

Yeah,that true,Ashley is realy specialist,but more to me and my wife,because cats and dogs,never but realy never ,even show interesting in salamanders,newts,slugs,toads and snails,never,they know better than us what to do

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

thank god we have Ashley to show us that!

Yes they are,our animals live all the mosty creatures alone ans special this one is real poison to them,in this one you can se the poison glands on the side of the head,that yellow formation pigmented with red and little black spots are the poison glands.Ashley told me that if the cats or dogs lick that part it would be very dangerous for them

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

Patino would do very well in the military.

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

nice details and color on this one.
are they poisonous if eaten?

Yeah he is quit good defender of the space.
I presume,they use our yard us a shelter from the predators and from other people,here,negther animals or humans arm them,to came my yard they have to climb our vertival 1,5m ciment wall,every year two times.or more,at list two times,but in this side is a safty place for them :) not big,actualy very little compared to the big weet valley

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

amazing nature in your backyard! Patino must be a good security guard.

Thanks Reza

Reza Hashemizadeh
Reza Hashemizadeh 10 years ago

Wonderful !

Thanks Chamalka Dulmini

Chamalka Dulmini
Chamalka Dulmini 10 years ago

wonderful series Antonio!

Thanks Karen :-) we get atached to them

KarenL
KarenL 10 years ago

Wonderful spotting Antonio!

Thanks Tom and Jemma and Ashley for you nice comments :-)

AshleyT
AshleyT 10 years ago

Beautiful series, Antonio! I feel like this one has more red than others you have seen, I like it! You can also see the poison glands really well in the first photo :)

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

great colors!

Tom15
Tom15 10 years ago

Nice find and great series!

Braga, Portugal

Spotted on Dec 16, 2013
Submitted on Dec 17, 2013

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