火蝾螈

The bright colouration of the fire salamander indicates toxicity; they secrete a neurotoxin called ‘samandarin’ through the skin, which can cause muscle convulsions, difficulty breathing, high blood pressure and death.

According to legend, the fire salamander received its name because it was born in fires. Most likely they were hiding on wood that humans gathered to build fires, and then tried to escape the flames by crawling out of the embers.

In most subspecies of fire salamander offspring develops in eggs inside the female, to be born as live aquatic larvae. However, the ‘fastuosa’ and ‘bernadezi’ varieties can give birth to fully metamorphosed young, skipping the aquatic stage.

Fire salamanders are mostly found under damp decaying leaf matter on the ground.

Fire salamanders tend to stay in the same home range for many years, some even returning to the same spots for their winter hibernation.