2658 NEWTS, SALAMANDERS, AND CCECILIANS 



cases the eggs are hatched within the bodies of the female parent, and the tadpoles 

 born alive, sometimes in a highly advanced stage of development. In the case of the 

 common salamander, during the breeding season the male enters the water first, and 

 is followed shortly afterward by the female, who gives birth to her tadpoles; but in 

 the Alpine salamander, the young are born on land. The water newts, on the other 

 hand, lay eggs which are attached to the stems and leaves of aquatic plants. The 

 majority of the terrestrial forms pass the earlier stages of their existence in the wa- 

 ter, not leaving this element till their lungs have become fully developed. In the 

 tadpole stage all the members of the order are remarkably alike, and this resem- 

 blance forbids any wide separation of species like the olm , in which the external gills 

 are retained, from the true newts and salamanders, in which these appendages are 

 lost at an early period. 



Although some of the larger kinds prey upon small fish, none of the newts and 

 salamanders can be said to be harmful to man; while the terrestrial forms are de- 

 fended against all foes, except fish, frogs, and snakes, by the poisonous secretion 

 exuded by the glands of their skins; water newts are, however, devoured by aquatic 

 birds and mammals. The reputed noxious characteristics of the common salaman- 

 der, and its alleged immunity to the effects of fire, are, of course, purely fabulous. 

 The existing members of the order are divided into four families. 



THE SALAMANDER TRIBE 

 Family SALAMANDRID^E 



Comprising the typical members of the order, this family is specially character- 

 ized by the absence of gills in the adult condition, the presence of upper jawbones 

 or maxillae, as well as of teeth in both the upper and lower jaws, and likewise by 

 the development of distinct eyelids. The family, which includes by far the greater 

 majority of the order, is divided into four subfamilies, the first of which is charac- 

 terized by having the teeth on the palate of the skull arranged in two longitudinal 

 series, diverging posteriorly, and inserted on the inner margin of two backwardly- 

 prolonged processes of the palatine bones. The median parasphenoid bone on the 

 base of the skull is devoid of teeth, and the bodies of the vertebrae are convex in 

 front and concave behind. 



The typical genus of the first subfamily (Salamandrintz} is repre- 

 Typical sented by three species, ranging from Central and Southern Europe to 



ma *ders t ^ ie Caucasus, Syria, and Algeria, of which the best known is the com- 

 mon spotted salamander (Salamandra maculosa). As a genus, these 

 salamanders are characterized by the large and suboval tongue being free on the 

 sides, and to a small degree also behind; by the palatine teeth forming two curved 

 series; by the presence of four front and five hind-toes; and likewise by the nearly 

 cylindrical section of the tail. The spotted species which varies in length from 

 seven to nine inches, may be recognized by the length of the tail being slightly 

 less than that of the head and body, and still more readily by its brilliant black 



