THE 8IRBD0K 



181 



fchej are terrestrial when adult, living in damp places and 

 feeding on insects. The larva retain their L r ill> to a p< : 

 when they are as large or even larger than the parent. The 

 most interesting of all the salamanders is the Amblystoma 

 mavortium, whose larva is called the axolotl (Fig. . 



Pro. 297, Skeleton of the hell-bender (M Prom LOtken's 



This larva is larger than the adult, which lives on land, 



sometimes being about a third of a metre (12 inches) in 



length, the adult being twenty centimetres (8 inches) long. 



The axolotl or siredon abounds in the lakes of the Rocky 



Mountain plateau from Montana to Mexico, from an alti- 

 tude of 4000 to 8000 or 9000 feet: the Mexican axolotl be- 



