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Salamanders have 10 times more DNA in each cell than humans do and can live as long as 30 years.
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The largest salamander is the Chinese giant, which can grow up to six feet long.
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The term “siren” is generally applied to salamanders that have lungs as well as gills. Other names salamanders go by include olm, axolotl, spring lizard, water dog, mud puppy, hellbender, triton and Congo eel.
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All newts are salamanders. Except Newt Gingrich—he’s a Republican.
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Salamanders’ forelimbs have four toes each and their hind limbs each have five. None of their toes have claws.
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A key ingredient in witches’ brews, eye of newt is thought to be a common name for a medicinal herb, not the eye of a living newt. It refers to mustard seed, believed to have magical properties of enhanced fertility and mental fortitude.
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like some types of lizard, salamanders can regenerate legs or tails lost in predatory attacks.
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The rough-skinned newt, found in the Pacific Northwest, produces enough poison to kill a human.
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The word salamander comes from the Greek words for fire lizard.
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Carrie Henn played the resourceful, wild-haired girl, Newt, alongside Sigourney Weaver in the movie Aliens. Henn never acted professionally again. Instead, she became a schoolteacher.
This article first appeared in the Fall 2011 issue of Canoeroots Magazine.
