Spring Salamander Gryrinohilus pophyriticus by: Ashley Scientific Classifacation: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Amphibians Order: Caudata Family: Plethodontidae Genus:Gyrinohilus Species: pophyriticus

Natural History

There are 2,500 different species of amphibians. The oldest amphibian fossil was found 360 million years ago.  Ecology is the study of the species and its environment, and I am studying the spring salamander and its environment.

The spring salamander is an amphibian, not a mammal. One of the reasons for that is because it's not warm blooded and it lays eggs. The spring salamander is a consumer, which means that it eats other organisms for food.  The spring salamander evolved from a lobe-finned fish. A spring salamander is a lungless salamander. The spring salamander is one of the species of concern listed in Maine, and it is on the way to being on the threatened species list. There are nine families and over three hundred and fifty different species of salamander. Most of these species live in North America.

Reproducing in most families is internal, which means that breeding usually is within the same species. The spring salamander that lays eggs is the female. To reproduce, most salamanders have to return to water, but some of them can lay eggs in moist fertile ground. An interesting fact about the spring salamander is that the species in Latin means “fire lizard.” The reason they would call it that is because a long time ago they would put a wet log on the fire and the salamander would crawl out.

The stages that the spring salamander has to go through are egg, larva, juvenile, and the adult stage. In the larva stage they have gills, no eyelids, a long tail, and fins. 

The size of the prey is determined by the size of the salamander. The spring salamander usually lives for five years. The spring salamander usually lives near water.

Habitat

A habitat is where an animal lives. The ecosystem helps the salamander a lot.  It gives it its food and its habitat .The spring salamander is usually found somewhere where it is pretty cool and wet. This is a called endemic which means that it is native to one place.

If you were hiking beside a small spring and you were looking closely, you might find some spring salamanders. If you wanted to find one you might do these things:  look under rocks, look under logs, and around fresh running springs in mountains. Other places where these salamanders would live are boggy areas, and in cool dark caves. In order for a spring salamander to reproduce, it has to come back to water, unlike some of the other species who can lay eggs in the ground.  The ground soil must be moist for them to reproduce.

Present Status

Its present status is species of concern in the State of Maine.

Physical Description

The spring salamander is a vertebrate.  It is grouped into the Phylum Chordata. Spring salamanders are salmon pink, or brownish orange. Most people would think that this animal was a reptile but its not--it's an amphibian. Sometimes they also have black dots on their back. The adult salamander can grow up to seven or even eight inches long. The spring salamander is one of the first amphibians to emerge from water in the spring. The spring salamander can lay between forty and one hundred eggs.

The spring salamander looks more like a lizard than a frog or toad.  It has very smooth skin, with no scales and no claws on its feet. The spring salamander has a tail and its legs grow from the side. The spring salamander is warm blooded, which means that wherever it goes its body temperature stays the same.

Diet and Feeding Habits

What does a spring salamander eat? Well, a spring salamander likes to eat insects that live near or in water. When the spring salamander goes to hunt for food it stays very still, then attacks. They like to eat gross things like earthworms and sometimes they even eat each other.

If you were to handle a spring salamander you would want to be very gentle because if an adult salamander is handled roughly, then it will throw up what he just ate. If you were to put the spring salamander into one of these groups, omnivores, herbivores, or carnivores, this cute little thing would be put in the carnivore group. This is because the spring salamander likes to eat things like insects. The size of the salamander's prey is determined by the size of the salamander. They don't eat things they can't get into their mouths.

What is being done to help?

Personal Essay

How does diversity strengthen an ecosystem?

I think it strengthens it in many ways. For example if you didn't have different species then there wouldn't be food for some of the other species and if some died then another would die and so on and so on. Diversity strengthens an ecosystems because the fact that there are different types of food makes it easier to survive if one thing runs out.

Different animals are important because they supply food for other animals. The spring salamander strengthens the ecosystems in many ways. For example they are a part of the food chain. They supply food for many animals. They also eat a lot of bugs so the bug population doesn’t get out of control.  As you can see in my examples the spring salamander is very important because its a link in the food chain. It doesn’t only eat bugs so that they get out of control but they also supply food for other animals.