Anderson's Crocodile Newt

 

True Wild Life | Anderson's Crocodile Newt | The Anderson's Crocodile Newt  is a species of salamander in the Salamandridae family. It is found in Japan and Taiwan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Anderson's Crocodile Newt gets its name from its bumpy ribs.

The Anderson's Crocodile Newt looks the same today as long, long ago. Their nickname is "the living fossil". They've survived through time but the forests and woods are vanishing, and they're in trouble. They love munching on bugs and beetles, and worms for a snack.

It is an amazing creature because all through time, it hasn't changed a bit. Nicknamed "the living fossil", he's the link to all ancient animals. It received its name from his bumpy ribs. His ribs are his charm and his cool dinosaur look.

The Anderson's Crocodile Newt, a super survivor of time, is facing extinction. People are building roads and resorts on top of the Anderson's Crocodile Newt's home; the forest and woods, and now it is homeless. If the Anderson's Crocodile Newt falls into a roadside ditch, it won't be able get out and it will die! Anderson's Crocodile Newt hasn't changed through time because there was never a problem with the forest and woods. It can't survive with all of this sudden change.

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Tiger Salamander

True Wild Life | Tiger Salamander | The tiger salamander is a small species of salamander, found inhabiting wetland habitats across North America. The tiger salamander can be easily distinguished from other species of salamander by the dark-coloured markings on the skin of the tiger salamander. An adult tiger salamander is rarely seen out in the open as they spend their lives in burrows about half a meter into the ground. Most adult tiger salamanders live in their burrows on the land, only returning to the water to mate.

The tiger salamander is green, black, brown or grey in colour and has blotchy markings on its skin. The tiger salamander also has sturdy legs and a long tail, all of which the tiger salamander is able to regrow should these limbs become lost or damaged. The tiger salamander is a carnivorous amphibian mainly hunting worms, insects and spiders that crawl into its burrow. Adult tiger salamanders are also known to hunt much larger animals such as baby mice and small frogs.

Due to the small size and ground-dwelling nature of the tiger salamander, the tiger salamander has numerous natural predators where it lives in North America. Raccoons, coatis and river turtles are the most common predators of the tiger salamander, along with birds and large reptiles. Most tiger salamander individuals will only get the chance to breed just once in their up to 15 years lifetime. The larvae of the tiger salamander are aquatic which means that the female tiger salamander lays her eggs in the water, generally on either a log or leaves close to the bottom of the water.

The eggs of the tiger salamander hatch into larvae which come in two forms, cannibalistic (meaning that they eat one another ) and non-cannibalistic larvae. The larvae take a varied amount of time depending on the region, to fully metamorphose into an adult tiger salamander.

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Salamander

True Wild Life | Salamander | A salamander is an amphibian that has four legs, a long and slender body and a long tail. Despite their lizard-like appearance, salamanders are most closely related to the smaller amphibious lizard, the newt. Salamanders are found all over the world generally in more temperate climates. All species of salamander are aquatic or semi-aquatic due to their amphibious nature and permeable skin. The moist skin of the salamander means that the salamander inhabits aquatic regions or wetlands.

There are more than 700 different species of recognised salamander worldwide from the smaller species of newt to the Chinese Giant salamander which can grow to nearly 2 meters long. All species of salamander look very similar in appearance but as with lizards, different species of salamander can have less limbs than normal meaning that some species of salamander have a more eel-like appearance.

In a similar way to newts and lizards, the salamander is remarkably able to regenerate and regrow lost limbs and sometimes other body parts too. This gives the salamander an advantage when being hunted by predators as the salamander is able to drop body parts and escape. Most species of salamander are brightly coloured, particularly the male salamanders during the breeding season, when their colours become brighter and more intense in order to try to attract a female. Those species of salamander that live underground are often either white or pink in colour due to the fact that their skin is never exposed to the sun.

The skin of salamanders secretes mucus, which helps keep the animal moist when on dry land, and maintains their salt balance while in water, as well as providing a lubricant during swimming. Salamanders also secrete poison from glands in their skin, and some additionally have skin glands for secreting courtship pheromones. Salamander population numbers have been dramatically decreasing possibly due to levels of fungus that is increasingly present in the water. It is unknown as to whether or not this is the reason for the decreasing salamander numbers but pollution levels are also thought to have played a big part.

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Newt

True Wild Life | Newt | The newt is a small amphibian and the average newt only tends to grows to around 15cm long, some newts however are bigger or smaller depending on the species of newt. The newt is found naturally in North America, Europe and Asia and the newt is thought to be a subspecies of the salamander. A newt tends to lay its eggs individually, with the newt normally finding ponds or slow-moving streams in which to do this. The individual newt eggs attach themselves to aquatic plants and hatch in about 3 weeks. The main difference between newt eggs and frog or toad eggs is that the eggs of the newt are laid individually and are attached to plants. Frog and toad eggs float close to the surface of the water and are usually found in big clumps, where there are often hundreds of eggs together.

The newt tadpoles have a slight resemblance to baby fish, other than the fact that they have feathered external gills. The baby newt will grow legs during the first few months, at which time, the baby newt will be able to explore both water and land. The newt is generally a solitary animal but some species of newt are known to hibernate in groups. Newts generally come together during the mating season which tends to take place in early spring.

People commonly keep fire-bellied newts, paddle-tail newts and crocodile newts as pets. The newt is seen as a good pet to keep as the newt is small and quiet and some species of newt, like the great crested newt native to Europe can get to 27 years old. There are thought to be around 15 different species of newt found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and many of these newt species contain toxins in their skin which helps the newt to defend itself from predators. Certain species of the Pacific newt, found in North America are particularly toxic, with some of these newts containing enough toxin in there skin to kill and adult human.

Newts are known best for their lizard-shaped body, with four legs and a long tail. Not only do newts have the incredible ability to breath both underwater and on land, but newts are also able to regrow limbs, should the original limbs of the newt become damaged. One theory as to why is this happens is that the chemicals that allow newts to regrow limbs, are the same as chemicals that produce tumors in other animals. These fast growing, and reproducing cells are thought to be very similar in both newts and tumors in other animals.

Due to loss of habitat and pollution, the newt populations throughout the world have been severely declining. Conservation effects in both the UK and the USA have led to the native newt populations being allowed to try and increase in number once again.

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Axolotl

True Wild Life | Axolotl | The axolotl is a medium-sized amphibian that is only found in one complex of lakes that are close to Mexico City in south-central Mexico. The axolotl is today kept as a popular freshwater aquarium pet all around the world. The axolotl is most closely related to the tiger salamander which inhabits the waters in a similar region of Mexico. However, axolotls can be easily distinguished from salamanders as the axolotl retains it's tadpole-like appearance for it's whole life, therefore axolotls and young tiger salamanders are easily confused.

The axolotl has a flat-shaped broad head that is much wider than the body of the axolotl. The axolotl also has feathery gills which protrude from either side of the head of the axolotl, allowing the axolotl to breath under water. As with newts and salamanders, axolotls are able to regenerate limbs that become damaged or detached meaning that axolotls have been extensively used in scientific experiments around the world. The axolotl is most commonly found in albino form as they spend a great deal of their lives hiding under rocks and in crevices on the bottom of the lake. Although axolotls are generally white or pink in colour, black, grey and brown coloured axolotls can also be found.

The axolotl is a carnivorous animal meaning that the axolotl has a purely meat-based diet. The axolotl eats worms and insect larvae that develop under the surface of the water along with molluscs, crustaceans and some small species of fish. Due to the bottom-dwelling lifestyle of the axolotl, it has surprisingly few natural predators despite it's relatively small size. Birds and large fish are the most common predators of the axolotl along with humans who catch the axolotl to keep as pets in artificial environments.

The axolotl can live for up to 25 years although the average axolotl rarely gets much older than the age of 15. Female axolotls can lay anywhere from 100 to 1,000 eggs which are coated with a sticky substance that helps them to stick to plants and rocks in the water to keep them safe. After about a month of development, tiny axolotl babies emerge into the open water. Today, the axolotl is considered to be a critically endangered species meaning that there are very few axolotl individuals left in the wild. Increasing levels of pollution is the most destructive factor in the survival to the axolotl with the ever-growing size of nearby Mexico City.

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