584 PIPID^. SALAMANDRID^E ; NEWTS. 



529. The family of the PIPID^E, which is peculiar to America, 

 is distinguished from both the Frogs and Toads by the absence 

 of the tongue ; and from the Toads by the large size of the hind 

 feet, which are webbed to the extremity of the toes. The Pipa, 

 or Surinam Toad, already referred to ( 524), is an example of 

 this group. 



ORDER II. URODELA. 



530. In the order URODELA, we seem to have the represent- 

 atives of the Saurian Reptiles amongst the Batrachia ; and in- 

 deed, by Linnaeus and the older naturalists, these animals were 

 arranged amongst the Lizards. From these, however, they may 



always be easily dis- 

 tinguished by their 

 naked skin. From the 

 Frogs and Toads they 

 differ in the persist- 

 ence of the tail, but, 

 FIG. 344.-NEWT. ijke tnenij t h ev i iave 



four limbs, which are usually well developed. 



531. The principal family in this order is that of the SALA- 

 MANDRID^E, or Salamanders, of which the common Newts of this 

 country are familiar examples. These little animals have a flat- 

 tened tail, and are to be found, in spring, in almost every piece 

 of water, where they come to deposit their eggs. During the 

 remainder of the year they live upon the dry ground ; and in 

 winter they collect together in considerable numbers in a hole 

 in the ground, or under clods of earth, and thus hybernate in 

 society. The Salamanders, distinguished by their rounded tails, 

 are more terrestrial in their habits than even the Newts ; they do 

 not even visit the water to breed, but their eggs are hatched and 

 the young developed in an enlarged portion of the oviduct ; so 

 that they are to be regarded as ovo- viviparous. The remainder 

 of the order is formed by the family AMrmuMiD^E, in which 

 there is a small branchial aperture on each side, and within this 



