Latest Ambystomatidae Stories

Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to a Yale paper in Scientific Reports. This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly. Salamanders breeding in roadside ponds are exposed to a host of contaminants from road runoff. Chief among these is sodium chloride from road salt, which reaches average concentrations of 70 times...

Researchers reported on Tuesday that climate change is affecting the breeding cycles of toads and salamanders. They documented that two species were breeding later in the autumn than in years past, and two others were breeding earlier in the winter. Their study adds to a growing body of evidence that climate change is affecting animals. Other studies have found that some birds in North America and Europe are moving northwards as temperatures rise. Brian Todd of the University of California,...

In nature, ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is not the amphibian killer scientists once suspected.Naturally occurring murky water and females who choose to lay their eggs in the shade keep embryos of one of the nation's most UV-sensitive amphibian species out of harm's way most of the time, new research shows. Less than 2 percent of the embryos of the long-toed salamander received lethal doses of UV across 22 breeding sites across nearly 8 square miles (20 square kilometers) in Washington...

California tiger salamanders face a threat from a hybrid relative as well as from over development and pollution, researchers said. Very little development threatened the amphibians 60 years ago when commercial bait sellers in California imported barred tiger salamanders from Texas, a biologist from the University of California Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle. Maureen Ryan of the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis said the larvae of the new salamanders was popular bait, but the...

Hope for amputees lies in a strange looking Mexican salamander due to its ability to regenerate body parts. The creatures are called "water monsters."The half-foot-long axolotl is nearly extinct in its only remaining habitat. It's found in ancient Aztec canals that snake though southern Mexico City. The slimy animal is thriving in labs where it reproduces easily. It has the ability to re-grow injured limbs, jaws, skin, organs and parts of its brain and spinal chord.Only salamanders...

A new study found that amphibian populations at Yellowstone National Park are in steep decline. Researchers point to climate change, which is causing the wetlands where animals breed and live to dry out.The park, which stretches over 9,000 sq km in the western U.S., shares land in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. U.S. congress granted Yellowstone national park status on 1 March 1872.The park's vast forests and grasslands are also home to grizzly bears, wolves and bison.However, all eyes are on the...