Details
Salamandra salamandra
The fire salamander is a black-and-yellow salamander associated with Palearctic forests and freshwater. It is a solitary nocturnal carnivore.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives in damp forests, stream valleys, and leafy slopes. Freshwater streams or springs are important for reproduction.
Length is about 15-25 cm and weight about 20-50 g. Yellow markings on a black body advertise skin glands that produce defensive secretions.
It is nocturnal and solitary. It emerges on rainy or humid nights and rests in shelters by day.
It is carnivorous, eating worms, slugs, insects, and similar prey. It searches slowly through damp forest litter.
Females often give birth to larvae at water edges, and larvae develop in freshwater. Reproductive details vary regionally.
Its conservation status is LC. The bold pattern is warning coloration linked to its defensive skin secretions.
