Skip to main content
298 Featured Specimen
Fire salamander

Details

Fire salamander

Salamandra salamandra

Size
15–25 cm · 20–50 g
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Nocturnal
Sociality
Solitary
Lifespan
4-15 years

The fire salamander is a black-and-yellow salamander associated with Palearctic forests and freshwater. It is a solitary nocturnal carnivore.

Range

Habitat range map
Native range Occasional / Transient
PalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearcticPalearctic

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Details

Habitat

It lives in damp forests, stream valleys, and leafy slopes. Freshwater streams or springs are important for reproduction.

Appearance

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.

Behavior

It is nocturnal and solitary. It emerges on rainy or humid nights and rests in shelters by day.

Feeding

It is carnivorous, eating worms, slugs, insects, and similar prey. It searches slowly through damp forest litter.

Reproduction

Females often give birth to larvae at water edges, and larvae develop in freshwater. Reproductive details vary regionally.

Notes

Its conservation status is LC. The bold pattern is warning coloration linked to its defensive skin secretions.