These woodland salamanders are amphibians but do not lay their eggs or have a larval stage in water. Adults are lungless and breathe through their skin. Consequently, moist surroundings are crucial to their survival and they are very sensitive to slight changes in their environment. As the weather warms or cools, salamanders bury themselves deeper in the ground or under logs.
Years ago, salamanders became associated with fire, probably because they’d seemingly come to life when logs, to which they were clinging, were flung into the fire. Considered by some to be magical creatures, they’ve been known to exist since the Jurassic period.
These small creatures eat tiny arthropods found in leaf litter. Their numbers can be quite numerous in eastern American woodlands. Although they keep a very low profile, salamanders contribute to the biodiversity of their habitat and play an important role in the natural recycling process of the forest.
Their gentle nature endears salamanders to many. Scientists see them as bioindicators, and employ their numbers to indicate the health of woodlands. Threatened by clear-cutting and extremely vulnerable to fungi and disease, their absence from an ecosystem is cause for concern. Perhaps because of their fragility and silent presence in the woods, these red-backed salamanders are my favorite amphibians.
Humans are amphibians – half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.
~ C.S. Lewis
For more information about the mythology surrounding salamanders, see Dragonorama.