Salamander
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.jpg) Salamandra salamandra
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Cryptobranchoidea |
Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500 amphibians with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails. The moist skin of the amphibians fits them to habitats either near water or under some protection on moist ground, usually in a forest. Some species are aquatic throughout life, some take to the water intermittently, and some are entirely terrestrial as adults. Salamanders superficially resemble lizards, but are easily distinguished by their lack of scales. They are capable of regenerating lost limbs.
Habitat
Species of salamanders are numerous and found in most moist or aqueous habitats in the northern hemisphere. Most are small but some reach up to 5 feet (1.5 m) in length. They live in brooks and ponds and other moist locations. North America has the hellbender and the mudpuppy which can reach the length of a foot (30 cm) or more. In Japan and China the giant salamander is found, which reaches 5 feet (1.5 m) and weighs up to 30 kilograms [1][2].
Salamander habitat is generally restricted to mostly the northern hemisphere, with the exception of a few species living in the northernmost part of South America. Although common on the European mainland, salamanders are not a native species of either Great Britain or Ireland.
Mythology
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Truly mythical salamanders have six legs, and are highly valued by witches. 'Lizards leg' is the hind left leg of one of these mythical beasts. The mythical salamander resembles the real salamander somewhat in appearance, but has six legs and makes its home in fires, the hotter the better. (Similarly, the salamander in heraldry is shown in flames, but is otherwise depicted as a generic lizard.)
Early travelers to China were shown garments supposedly woven from salamander wool; the cloth was completely unharmed by fire. The garments had actually been woven from asbestos. Leonardo da Vinci wrote the following on the salamander: "This has no digestive organs, and gets no food but from the fire, in which it constantly renews its scaly skin. The salamander, which renews its scaly skin in the fire,—for virtue." Later Paracelsus suggested that the salamander was the elemental of fire. These "fire salamander" myths originate in Europe from the fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra, which hibernates in and under rotting logs. When wood was brought indoors and put on the fire, the creatures mysteriously appeared from the flames. Because of this, salamanders have often been associated with dragons because of their connection with fire.
Popular culture
- Historical
- In military history, Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (famous for proclaiming "Damn the torpedoes") was nicknamed "Old Salamander" for his great naval exploits during the American Civil War. [citation needed]
- In history, King Francois I of France used a salamander as his personal emblem. [citation needed]
- Literature
- In the Karel Čapek´s science fiction novel War with the Salamanders (or War with the Newts), the species Andrias scheuchzeri portrays the main role.
- In David Weber's "Honorverse" series of novels, the main character Honor Harrington is nicknamed "The Salamander".
- In C.S. Lewis's fantasy book The Silver Chair, salamanders are said to be very wise creatures that live in the flames of Bism, and speak to the Gnomes there.
- Salamanders are magical beasts mentioned in the Harry Potter series.
- In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the salamander, along with the mythical phoenix, is a symbol of the firemen.
- In the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett, salamanders are used by Iconographers to create flash for their pictures.
- In the Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey, salamanders are portrayed as lesser fire elementals.
- In the Xanth novel A Spell for Chameleon, salamanders are lizards who breathe magical fire.
- Video games
- Salamander (arcade game) is a 2D shoot 'em up series by Konami. It is generally considered a sister series to Gradius, and the games feature a variation on the Gradius power-up system, as well as both horizontal and vertically scrolling levels.
- In Secret of Mana, the elemental of fire, Salamando, takes its name, properties and appearance from the mythical salamander.
- In World Of Warcraft, lizard-like "salamander" creatures can be found in the raid zone Molten Core. They are generally referred to as Flamewakers, which is likely a nod to the aforementioned fire salamanders.
- In Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Salamander can be summoned by Nathan, providing him with fire-elemental magic.
- In the second and third installments of the games in the Megaman: Battle Network series, a powerful attack known as the Salamander, harnessed the power of fire and sent a great flame in the shape of the creature flying at the enemy if the player had a style aligned with fire.
- In Lost Magic, the Salamander is one of the four elementals, found in Blaze Lake; attacks using fireballs.
- In Battletech, the Salamander is a Clan anti-battlemech and anti-infantry battle armor that utilizes a flamethrower type weapon in conjunction with incendiary missiles.
- In RuneScape, "salamanders" are weapons that shoot fire.
- Throughout the entire Final Fantasy franchise, salamanders can be found as fire-breathing enemies.
- In Earthworm Jim 2, there is a stage where Jim transforms from an earthworm to a blind cave salamander.
- Animation
- In the anime Legendz, Salamander is an anthropomorphic caudate who is relegated a role as a minor character.
- In the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang, known as the Flame Alchemist has a salamander depicted on the transmutation circle on his gloves. While wearing the gloves, with a snap of his fingers, he can set anything ablaze.
- In the anime Digimon Frontier, Kanbara Takuya's human evolution Agnimon has three attacks, two of which are Salamander Break, and Burning Salamander. In addition, Takuya's theme song is 'Salamander', performed by Takeuchi Junko.
- In the Pokémon franchise, Magmar (and its evolutionary family of Magby and Booburn) are all salamanders, as well as Charmander.
- Other
- In the commercial kitchen, Salamander is a brand name of high heat broiling ovens.
- In the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000, one chapter of the Imperium's Space Marines are named the Salamanders.
Classification
There are ten families belonging to the order Urodela, divided into three suborders:
| colspan="100%" align="center" bgcolor="#BBBBFF" | Cryptobranchoidea (Giant salamanders) | ||
| Family | Common Names | Example Species | Example Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptobranchidae | Giant salamanders | Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) | 
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| Hynobiidae | Asiatic salamanders | Western Chinese Mountain Salamander (Batrachurperus pinchonii) | - |
| colspan="100%" align="center" bgcolor="#BBBBFF" | Salamandroidea (Advanced salamanders) | ||
| Ambystomatidae | Mole salamanders | Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) | 
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| Amphiumidae | Amphiumas or Congo eels | Two-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means) | 
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| Dicamptodontidae | Pacific giant salamanders | Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) | 
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| Plethodontidae | Lungless salamanders | Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) | 
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| Proteidae | Mudpuppies or waterdogs | Olm (Proteus anguinus) | 
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| Rhyacotritonidae | Torrent salamanders | Southern Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton variegatus) | 
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| Salamandridae | Newts and true salamanders | Alpine Newt (Triturus alpestris) | 
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| colspan="100%" align="center" bgcolor="#BBBBFF" | Sirenoidea (Sirens) | ||
| Sirenidae | Sirens | Greater Siren (Siren lacertina) | 100px |
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- San Mauro, Diego and Miguel Vences, Marina Alcobendas, Rafael Zardoya and Axel Meyer (May 2005). Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea. American Naturalist 165: 590-599.
External references
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