2666 



NEWTS, SALAMANDERS, AND CCECILIANS 



Spectacled 

 Salamander 



in most cases newts shed their skin piecemeal, in the crested newt it has been 

 observed to be cast entire. 



The presence of only four toes to each foot, and of a bony fronto- 

 squamosal arch to the skull, are the most distinctive features of the 

 little spectacled salamander {Salamandrina perspicillatd) of Italy, the 

 sole representative of the genus to which it belongs. It is, however, further dis- 

 tinguished by its slender form, and also by its somewhat compressed and rapidly 

 tapering tail, furnished both above and below with a longitudinal keel, as well as 

 by the palatine teeth being arranged in two parallel series diverging posteriorly. 

 The tongue is very similar to that of the genus Chioglossa. Reaching from rather 

 more than three to nearly four inches in length, this pretty little salamander has a 

 warty skin, and is generally black on the upper parts, although there is atriangu- 





SPECTACLED SALAMANDER. 

 (Natural size.) 



lar or chevron-shaped yellow mark on the top of the head. Beneath, the chin is 

 white, the throat black, and the rest of the under parts white, usually marked with 

 black spots; the lower surface of the tail and adjacent part of the body is, however, 

 bright carmine. The tarantolina, as this salamander is termed in Italy and Sardiua, 

 inhabits cool, shady spots on the flanks of the mountains, where it feeds chiefly 

 upon ants and spiders, and is active at all seasons of the year, having been seen 

 abroad even in January. Although it appears that the pairing takes place on land, 

 the females resort to the water in March to deposit their eggs, those that are first 

 to arrive taking the best places, such as sheltered corner of rock, where the spawn 

 will be less likely to be washed away by floods. The young are hatched in about 

 three weeks, and generally leave the water in June. In its movements on land this 

 salamander is as active as a lizard. 



There are two other existing genera of the subfamily under consid- 

 eration, both differing from the preceding forms in that the maxilla 

 or upper jawbone is more or less fully in contact with the pterygoid bone. Both 

 have a fronto-squamosal arch, but whereas in Tylotriton this is bony throughout, it 



Other Genera 



