Amphibian · Wetland expedition
Fire Salamander
Salamandra salamandra
Rare
The old belief that salamanders were born of flame has a homely explanation: they winter inside damp logs, and a log thrown on the fire would send them walking calmly out of the blaze.
The yellow on black is honest advertising. Glands along the back secrete an alkaloid toxin, and the boldest-marked animals are the best defended. Predators learn the pattern once and remember.
Unusually for an amphibian, many fire salamanders skip the egg entirely: females carry their larvae and release them, already swimming, into cold clean forest streams. They can live for decades, quiet under the same stones.
