A Little Bit More
In our biology classes, we all learned that amphibians spend part of their lives in water and part of their lives on land; after all, that’s what their name means. But in nature, there are often many exceptions to the “rule” and this is one of those. Many of the Plethodontidae family salamanders, also known as the lungless salamanders, live their entire lives on land and don’t enter water. Granted, their life must be lived in a moist environment but it isn’t water at any time in their development. The lungless salamanders can be especially abundant on moist forest floors in the Eastern and Western parts of North America. Since they’re most active at night foraging for small invertebrates when it’s most moist, many people are unaware of their abundance in the woods.
Red-backed Salamander © Solon Morse
The eggs of the Redback Salamander, the one pictured in the poster, are suspended from a log, rock, or other natural cover while the female spends 2 months with her eggs until they hatch. As the young salamander matures within the egg, at first it has external gills within its moist egg envelopment but loses these before hatching. On hatching, the young salamander is a miniature copy of its parents and can begin foraging about in the moist woodlands on its own, never having spent time in water.
Activities
English and Science – Salamander Folktale
Objectives: Creative writing with a “science” theme
Materials: Read “Land Lover” unit, pencil and paper
We’ve all heard folktales of various kinds and we know that many of these are based on inaccurate information or unfounded beliefs and fears about the natural world. Since the salamanders discussed in this unit are not your “usual” kind of amphibians, I think it would be interesting to see if your students can write a folktale to explain “why some salamanders don’t place their eggs in water”. This can be a creative writing assignment that doesn’t need to be entirely factual but students should incorporate some of the facts/information that they’ve learned from the “Land Lover” poster and “A Little Bit More” into their discussion.
Legend, Folktale, or Myth (definitions of these)
Folklore and Mythology
Myths and Legends
Key Concepts
Adaptations and Diversity, Behavior and Regulation, Growth and Development, Life Cycles, Structures and Functions
Questions
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