Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)
Place observed
Former golf course area
Description
Ambystoma belongs to a special lineage of salamanders. They are unisexual, having only females. However, they need the seed of another species of ambystoma to initiate cell division of their eggs during reproduction. However, the genetic background of this male seed is not used for embryo development. They are also amphibians known as urodeles, which means that they keep a tail in the adult state.
It can measure up to 16 cm. Its body is dark, almost black, with small blue spots. Some individuals are sometimes completely black. Its head is large, its body slender and robust with a tail that corresponds to about 40% of its length. It has four long toes on its front legs and five on its back legs. It feeds on insects, larvae, tadpoles, etc. and serves as food for several species such as fish, turtles, frogs and birds.
Habitat
The Blue Spotted Ambystoma is found in wetlands and forests (mostly deciduous), sheltering in fallen leaves or in stumps and rock piles.
Reproduction
The reproduction takes place in spring. Adults move to wetlands (ponds, swamps, etc.) and lay small clusters of eggs that remain attached to plants, twigs or rocks that border them. The larvae hatch after a month and live in the water until the ultimate metamorphosis at the end of the summer, which will lead them to terrestrial life.
Status
Salamanders play an important ecological role and are sensitive to changes in their environment. When their population is stable and thriving in an ecosystem, biologists consider that this tends to demonstrate the health of the ecosystem. An unusual fact is that they have the amazing ability to regrow their limbs when they lose them.
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