a salamander blog

Toads - a poem by Eileen L. Ziesler

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:31:07 PDT

While I realize that a book about a toad isn't exactly salamander material, it's close enough, being a related amphibian, for me to to justify a blog entry.

While attending the Rusk County Dairy Breakfast in Ladysmith Wisconsin, I met Eileen Ziesler a local author who has self-published a book entitled "Toads". She took the time to not only chat with me about the book, amphibians, and conservation but to sing a lullaby (which I believe she should record and add to the book) to my youngest son. Throughout the area, Eileen (along with a rather large toad companion) visits schools and libraries reading from her book. This is, of course, an idea which I admire and understand as I see in my children, and felt as a child once myself, the amazement of experiencing the natural world and discovering the role that amphibians play in it. Her book is available for purchase online at Toad House Publishing which also includes links to purchase some of the prints of the fantastic watercolor images from the book. I highly recommend it.

life-size Chinese Giant Salamander model on display

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:16:57 PDT

Opening at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) on May 16, 2009, the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity features 2,500 species within seven ecosystem experiences. The gallery highlights endangered and threatened species from around the world and includes the life-sized model of the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) shown above.

bug-like salamander species found in Ecuador

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:41:20 PDT

Conservation International is reporting the discovery of a unique bug-eyed salamander species from a recent expedition from the Nangaritza region of southeastern Ecuador. The salamander from the genus Bolitoglossa belongs to a group of salamanders also called Tropical climbing salamanders or Web-footed Salamanders. These are tree dwelling or arboreal salamanders that have feet that are fully webbed, enabling them to cling to smooth surfaces.

one man's petition to save a salamander

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:16:53 PDT

The amount of land that the Tejon Ranch Company holds is large, very large, and a significant portion of the land is prime for development. According to the Tejon Ranch Company Web site, the ranch is nearly 270,000 acres (422 square miles), the largest contiguous expanse of private land in California - larger than the City of Los Angeles - and about 40% the size of Rhode Island. Future development projects include a resort, industrial complex and a sustainable new town community. The Tehachapi slender salamander is only found in a small region of California, small enough that it is found almost no where else but within land held by the Tejon Ranch Company.

Because most of the known Tehachapi slender salamander population occurred within the Tejon Ranch company land and high potential for development on that land, in 2006, Jeremy Nichols petitioned the government to list the salamander as an endangered species. According to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, any citizen may petition the government to list a species as endangered or threatened. Jeremy's petition presented substantial information on the distribution, biology and threats to the species and due to his petition on April 22, 2009 US Fish and Wildlife Service completed a 90-day finding on the salamander. Based on information from the 90-day finding, The Service will conduct a 12-month finding to determine if the salamander will be listed as threatened or endangered.

illustration by Daniel Mitsui

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:50:48 PDT

Daniel Mitsui, a freelance illustrator in Chicago, has displayed on his blog a beautifully detailed illustration based on the crucifixion of Christ. The illustration includes "four small figures which represent the elements" including one figure holding an unburning salamander. Not surprising as salamanders throughout history have often been used to symbolize the element of fire. The background detail is astonishing with many, varied images including skulls, frogs, planaria and crabs that enhance the larger images of the crucifixion.

salamander themed walking tour in South Carolina

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:08:06 PDT

The town of Columbia, South Carolina is unveiling a new interactive walking tour using the theme of the South Carolina state amphibian, the spotted salamander. Stops on the interactive tour are marked by numbered, bronze statues of the spotted salamander. The tour, named Sally Salamander, opens officially on Saturday, April 25 with family-friendly games, activities and prizes.

Is it just me or does the Sally Salamander logo have a resemblance to the TSMP logo?

citizen-based salamander monitoring in Wisconsin

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:49:22 PDT

While viewing accepted proposals at the Citizen-based Monitoring Network of Wisconsin (apparently they made $100,000 available in 2008), I noticed a successful proposal to monitor salamanders, supposedly the only project monitoring salamanders in Wisconsin. Run by the Wisconsin Audubon Council, the salamander monitoring began in 2008 using funnel traps to collect adult salamanders during the Spring.

new salamander discoveries in Colombia

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:18:19 PST

A group of scientist including Conservation International herpetologists have discovered a potentially new species of salamander from the genus Bolitoglossa. Searching in a mountainous region of Colombia near the border with Panama, the scientists also found a salamander species, Taylor's salamander, Bolitoglossa taylori (shown above), never before found this far north in Central America.

Clash of the Giant Salamanders

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 07:39:55 PST

The National Geographic Channel featured "Clash of the Giant Salamanders" last night (January 17, 2009) on Dangerous Encounters. Dr. Brady Barr sought out the world's four largest salamanders: Hellbender, Japanese Giant Salamander, Greater Siren and Two-toed Amphiuma. Initially, he sought out the Chinese Giant Salamander and not surprisingly was denied access to the salamander's native habitat by the Chinese government. The closest he was able to get to the threatened salamander was watching it being enjoyed as a dish in a restaurant in Beijing.

The National Geographic Channel web site posted two videos from the show which have been embedded below.

moving on from wine - salamanders and beer

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:17:55 PST

To complement the recent posts regarding wine - wine companies helping with salamander conservation or a winery naming themselves after a salamander, I've come across a listing of a brewer, Rahr & Sons Brewing in Fort Worth, Texas, naming a beer after a salamander, the Texas Blind Salamander, Eurycea rathbuni. The brewer is donating a portion of the Blind Salamander Pale Ale proceeds to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation to help with species recovery.

For those who care more about the drinking of the beer, I've checked ratebeer.com and Blind Salamander Pale Ale scored a 53 out of 100.

conserving two aquatic salamander species

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:09:13 PST

The Axolotl and the Hellbender are aquatic, salamander species both with unique conservation issues. Between the two, the Axolotl is a little more unfortunate, at least when it comes to survival in it's native habitat. The Axolotl is only found in a polluted lake system (Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco) filled with invasive species outside of Mexico City and once gone it may never be able to return to its native habitat. Axolotl conservation in it's native habitat has been focused more on education than any other means.

The Hellbender has a better chance at survival in its native habitat. Water quality is decent throughout its range in the southern United States and it's range is large compared to the Axolotl. Even though the Axolotl's habitat is much more degraded there is not much chance of extinction since it's used in science labs throughout the world. Now a conservation group is attempting to give the Hellbender a similar chance by raising them within a lab. The Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation at the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute in conjunction with The Missouri Department of Conservation are planning to breed the salamander in captivity for release later in the wild.

Hopefully, with sustained water quality and habitat preservation, the Hellbender will survive in it's native habitat. The outlook for the Axolotl is far more grim.

more salamanders and wine info

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:34:26 PST

As a coincidence to my post last Tuesday on a California winery doing good for salamanders, while reading Educating Peter, a book on wine basics, I came across a note regarding exceptional wine from a NY winery named Red Newt Cellars. Red Newt Cellars isn't as large or mention being as engaged environmentally as Kendall-Jackson but it's nice to see the newt on the bottle and they do provide some education on the Red-spotted Newt and even named their 2005 Red Blend "Viridescens" after the Newt's scientific name.

a space for salamander love in wine country

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:46:07 PST

Wine production and salamander conservation don't often come together but due to the recent endangered species designation of the The California Tiger salamander, the international wine producer Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, now known as Jackson Family Wines, has developed two ponds specifically for salamander breeding on their Los Alamos property. The pond creation will allow the company to be excluded from critical habitat designation, presumably to enable the company to continue wine production on the property while coexisting with the salamander. The company Web site doesn't specifically mention the pond creation but does mention 700 acres of property set aside for the Tiger Salamander.

salamander eggs help to identify chloride channel

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:05:33 PDT

With a simple switch from using frog (Xenopus) eggs to salamander (Axolotl) eggs, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Center recently determined a gene sequence called TMEM16A that encodes the calcium-activated chloride channel. Processes such as nerve function and muscle contraction are influenced by the movement of chloride ions into and out of cells. With this information new treatments may be developed to treat cystic fibrosis, bronchitis, asthma and hypertension.

giant salamander-like fossil discovered

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:51:58 PDT

A giant temnospondyl, an ancient amphibian, was discovered from an Antarctic fossil originally found in 1986. Named Kryostega collinsoni, the salamander-like amphibian was 15 feet long and had an unusual set of teeth. The teeth found on the palate of the salamander were found to be longer and thicker (1.6 inches long/.5 inches wide) than the teeth at the edge of the mouth (1.2 inches long/1 inch wide) .

a review of "Fossil Salamanders of North America"

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:35:51 PDT

I recently returned a copy of "Fossil Salamanders of North American" written by J. Alan Holman to my university library and thought a brief review was due. I got what I expected - detailed information on salamander paleontology like the fact that fossil salamanders were found dating back to the Early Jurassic Period roughly 150 million years ago. The book also provided a brief but very thorough introduction into the evolution of salamanders (particularly fascinating due to the recent discovery of fossil Gerobatrachus hottoni or elderly frog), ancient amphibians (apparently some were the size of a Volkswagen Microbus) and salamander biology (apparently neoteny played a major role in the evolution of salamanders).

90,000 foot salamander found

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:59:27 PDT

In Alameda CA, 6,000 people including 3,800 elementary school kids came together for two weeks in mid-June to draw a huge 90,000 sq. ft. salamander. The artist responsible, Mark Wagner, Creative Director of the Kids Chalk Art Mission, provides a salamander-ladened story on his blog. The footnote of the salamander story blog entry states that he told the story to the elementary students of Alameda CA and I imagine this is the inspiration for the event. And, according to Mark Wagner's blog (which I couldn't confirm) the drawing set a world record!

salamander on the side of a U-Haul

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:01:47 PDT

Sometime last Summer on the side of the small U-Haul truck, I noticed a large, beautifully-illustrated image of a salamander. Several other U-Haul trucks with similar images showed up this Summer which spurred me to find some more information. I went to the U-Haul Web site and found links for images for all 50 states (and a few Canadian provinces) including the state of Washington represented by the Olympic torrent salamander (Rhyacotriton olympicus). The site provides images to download for a desktop, a page to print out for children to color and a way to order t-shirts of the image.

one artist's attempt at understanding salamanders

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:23:56 PDT

While looking on Flickr for a new desktop background I found this image (a portion of a much larger image) which the artist states as his "attempt at understanding [these] fine creatures". The larger image comes with names and descriptions of each species. Enjoy.

can salamanders count?

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:27:05 PDT

A July edition of Discover Magazine article (based on an excerpt from a recent book "Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge") states that salamanders can perceive numbers. Intrigued, and without access to the book's references, I searched the Internet and found two articles: "Foraging Tactics of a Terrestrial Salamander: Assessing Prey Density" and "Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) go for more: rudiments of number in an amphibian". "Foraging Tactics of a Terrestrial Salamander: Assessing Prey Density" found that red-backed salamanders (red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, were used in both studies) were using information gained during prey encounters more than information gained during prey capture and therefore, perhaps, were "counting" prey. The other article "Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) go for more: rudiments of number in an amphibian" by Claudia Uller, Institute of Cognitive Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, went a step further. Conducted by presenting salamanders with test tubes filled filled with increasing numbers of flies from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 4, etc, the salamanders had similar results to tests given (of course, with something other than fruit flies) to non-verbal infants and nonhuman primates. Salamanders, like the non-verbal infants and nonhuman primates choose the test tubes with greater numbers of flies up until the test tubes contained more than 3 flies.

The definition of the word "count" is to "determine the number or amount of". The studies show the capacity within salamanders to have, as the Uller paper states, "numerical discrimination" or the ability to perceive"more". If a salamander can perceive "more", which is a determination of at least two amounts, then can't it be said that they can count.

mimicry (or why are we all red? )

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:36:38 PDT

Mimicry in snakes has been well studied but a blog post reviewing a recent article in Nature presented a compelling idea about how snakes may not be mimicking other snakes but salamanders. King snakes apparently are colored to mimic the poisonous coral snake. The authors expected king snakes with overlapping ranges to have more red and less black coloration (king snake look more like the coral snake) and as population moved further away from the overlap that the coloration would be less red and more black coloration (king snake look less like the coral snake). This makes sense as a brightly colored king snake in an area where there are no coral snakes would stand out, predators wouldn't know to avoid it and they probably would not survive. The data on coloration showed the reverse and the authors hypothesized that migration must be the answer. But another idea posted in the blog was that the king snakes were not mimicking coral snakes but that instead young, bright, red, king snakes mimic the bright, red, terrestrial red eft stage of the Red-spotted newt which happen to overlap ranges. James Petranka mentions in his book "Salamanders of the United States and Canada" that studies have found that salamanders, particularly Red Salamanders, mimic Red-spotted newts (red eft stage) but not because of Batesian mimicry (I want to look like you because they know you taste awful and I would taste delicious) but Mullerian mimicry (We both look alike and we both taste awful). What does this mean for the snakes looking like salamanders hypothesis? Maybe the answer is a combination of the Mullerian and Batesian mimicry or in other words everything that looks red should be avoided.

how salamanders react to clearcut forests

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:38:43 PDT

A new study by researchers at the University of Missouri shows that salamanders use migration as a response to environmental changes that occur when forests are clearcut. Not surprisingly, during the two year period of study, few salamanders migrated into the clearcut forest. The study does show that there is potential that salamanders that leave clearcut forests could return to repopulate the evacuated areas.

salamander tracks

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:13:15 PST

Image courtesy of Animal Tracks of Minnesota & Wisconsin

While at a cabin in Ladysmith, WI, I recently came across the book Animal Tracks of Minnesota & Wisconsin (Animal Tracks Guides). I didn't expect to find any information on tracks except mammal tracks. Surprisingly, the guide had an informative page on the tracks left by salamanders. The article states that salamanders leave a print of four toes from the fore foot and five toes on the hind foot print and often drag the belly and tail.

three new salamander species discovered

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:32:34 PST

Three new salamander species were discovered in Costa Rica in the largest forest reserve in the Central America, La Amistad National Park. Discovered by a team led by Alex Monro of the Natural History Museum in London, all of the species found were small with the smallest, a member of the genus Nototriton, the size of a human fingernail. The other two species are members of the genus Bolitoglossa. None of the species have yet to be named.

In September of 2007 two new plethodontid species were found in the same area: Gomez’s Web-footed Salamander, Bolitoglossa gomezi and Brame’s Web-footed Salamander, Bolitoglossa bramei.

75 degress and finding salamanders in december

redeftboy@yahoo.com (Dan Lantz) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:52:22 PST

I had a phone call today from a fellow volunteer monitor. Out on a walk at a local nature center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, she took the occasion to check for salamanders and first try, found a Slimy Salamander. I am not sure if this was an attempt to rub it in my face that while they are enjoying 75 degrees in Tennessee, temperatures are roughly 60 degrees colder here in Wisconsin/Minnesota. Any opportunity for finding a salamander is many months away for me.