| Salamanders and Newts (Caudata) |
| The Caudata are slender-bodied amphibians with four limbs (the sirens only have two), moist and smooth or dry and glandular skin, and long tails, in both larvae and adults. The order includes 10 families, 61 genera, and ca. 805 living species; two-thirds (508 species) belongs to the family Plethodontidae (Lungless Salamanders). Members of most families undergo metamorphosis, developing from aquatic larvae to terrestrial adults, which must return to water to breed. However, many lungless salamanders have direct development, i.e., young salamanders, shaped like miniature adults, hatch from eggs laid in moist places on land. Other species never metamorphose or undergo partial metamorphosis, reaching breeding stage while retaining external gills and other larval features, and remaining fully aquatic throughout their lives. Salamander diversity is highest in the Northern Hemisphere, with 9 of the 10 families found almost entirely in the temperate regions of North America and Eurasia; only one subfamily of Plethodontidae, Bolitoglossinae, reaches the Neotropics. One-third of the contemporary species of tailed amphibians are found in North America, with the highest diversity in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Photos of salamanders and newts are temporarily offline. Please check the "Amphibian Species in Our Collection" page for available species. We are working to rebuild these pages, but feel free to request images of species you are interested in. |
| Mole Salamanders (Ambystomatidae) |
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| True Salamanders and Newts (Salamandridae) |
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| Mudpuppies (Proteidae) |
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| Lungless Salamanders (Plethodontidae) |
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