Here is one of the Salamanders that Amy found on our 10 mile hike through Big Basin waterfalls ( it was her idea actually :D ). They were rough brown on top and smooth bright orange on bottom. I think it's pretty cute that she calls them lizards then geckos then finally salamanders. I got to wondering if I was also calling it the wrong name so I looked it up...
Surprisingly, there is no really meaningful difference. The distinction is more historic than scientific. Newts are a subgroup of salamanders. All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts. The following are the things that distinguish newts from salamanders.
- A salamander is called a "newt" if it belongs to one of the following genera: Cynops, Echinotriton, Euproctus, Neurergus, Notophthalmus, Pachytriton, Paramesotriton, Pleurodeles, Taricha, Triturus, or Tylototriton.
- Newts generally spend more of their adult lives in the water than salamanders. However, there are exceptions (terrestrial newts and aquatic salamanders).
- Newts generally have more distinctive differences between the sexes and a more complex aquatic courtship. Again, there are exceptions.
Amy's being a tree spirit here
Posts
2 comments:
Hey! I took that picture of the waterfall. For someone who is not very good at taking pictures, I did a pretty darn good job. You better footnote me on that photograph. :)
if the spirit (tree) moves you, let me GROOVE YOU!
Post a Comment