#climbing salamanders

[plaguedocboi]

Absolutely losing my mcfucking mind over climbing salamanders

What a wonderful planet we live on

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

If you ever go walking in the temperate rainforests of California or British Columbia, you may just be hit by a falling salamander. Many species of salamander reside in trees, but the aptly named wandering salamander will jump from their perches when threatened. They’re unharmed by these leaps, controlling their splaying their limbs and controlling their descent with their tails.

(Image: A stray wandering salamander (Aneides vagrans) by Dan Portik)

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[uncharismatic-fauna]

A Splendid Arboreal Salamander

The Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) is a species of climbing salamander native to the west North American coast, from the Pacific northwest United States to northern Mexico. It is a member of the plethodontid salamander group, of which whose most distinguishing feature is that they lack lungs. Instead these salamanders breathe directly through their skin and the inside of their mouth. Because of this, they can only thrive in damp climates and seldom descend to ground level. They spend most of their time in trees or bushes, and their prehensile tails make them expert climbers.

Arboreal salamanders are on the smaller end compared with other salamander species, at about 6-10 cm in length. Their sides are grooved, which helps increase respiration. Males and females are generally the same size and color: a brownish purple with yellow spots and a cream underside. This coloring makes for good camouflage, as the Arboreal salamander has many predators including snakes, larger lizards, birds of prey, and small mammals like raccoons.

Like many salamanders, A. lugubris is nocturnal. They hide during the day, usually in cracks or hollows in trees, and emerge at night to feed on insects and other invertebrates. They aren’t territorial, and have in fact been found to share spaces peacefully with many other species of salamander. In spring, when rains are at their heaviest, they emerge to mate. Females lay between 12 to 24 eggs in late-spring to early summer in a moist, secluded area. She then stays with them until they hatch three or four months later, at which time mother and children part ways. Arboreal salamanders become sexually mature at two years, but many don’t live to that age. Those that do survive can live to be as old as eleven.

Conservation Status: Rated as Least Concern by the IUCN, although it is considered a rare and sensitive species. Their primary threat is habitat destruction and fragmentation, although they are also highly susceptible to air pollution given their method of respiration.

Photos

Gary Nafis

Katie

Zach Lim