Aquatic Amphibians 215 



tail, developed eyelids and yellow mark- 

 ings on the skin, and eventually took 

 to land, transformed into the common 

 North American salamander Amblystoma. 

 It has since been ascertained that the 

 Axolotl can be forced by drought to take 

 to a terrestrial life and adopt a slow- 

 going, sheltered existence on terra firma. 

 In recent years, it has also been found 

 that this Peter Pan of the Animal World 

 can be induced to grow up by inducing 

 it to take a single meal of thyroid or 

 pituatory gland. 



The largest living Amphibian is the 

 Giant Salamander (Megalobatrachus maxi- 

 mus) of Japan. The creature, which 

 suggests a huge flattened-out lizard, 

 attains a length of over six feet and lives 

 concealed in dark crevices where it leads 

 a solitary life. Its skin is brown, spotted 

 with black, and is very tubercular. Its 

 eyes are minute and are scarcely to be 

 distinguished from the tubercles on the 



