Salamander

a cold-blooded animal allied to the newt, toad, and frog. In mythology, the Salamander was a man-like monster who ate fire, breathed fire, and lived in fire without injury. Salamanders look like lizards but are not related to them. Zoologically one cannot get a better idea of the salamander, and also of the newt, than to consider it a case of a frog, a huge frog in many cases, that has halted at the last stage of the tadpole and gone no further. Put another way, if the salamander would go a little further, shake off his tail, and change his body once more as the tadpole finally does, he would be a frog. The most common salamander in America is the spotted salamander, black above with a row of round yellow spots running along each side of the back. Six inches long. Tail, two and one-half inches. Another common species is dark brown with yellow blotches in cross bands. Eight inches long. Salamanders may be known from lizards because they have neither scales nor claws. There are sixteen North American species-all pathetically harmless, helpless creatures. See Lizard