Salamanders in Tennessee

Salamanders are a group of around 410 species of amphibians that make up an entire scientific order, Caudata.  Newts, sirens, and mudpuppies are all salamanders.  

This group usually has the presence of a tail and may look like lizards. Their skin is moist and may be dry or smooth. They rarely have more than four toes on the front legs and five on the rear legs, but some never grow limbs.  Some can regrow a lost limb or tail, and researchers study them in hopes of engineering the process for humans who have lost a limb.

Some salamanders live on land and some live in both water and land, and some are fully aquatic.  Salamanders lay eggs and fertilize eggs in the water.  Some have gills and some do not; some lose their gills and grow lungs. There is a very wide variation in the lifecycle of salamanders.

Some species are toxic, but usually show this by being brightly colored.  Most are small.