Italian cave salamander

Italian cave salamander ( Speleomantes italicus )

The Italian cave salamander ( Hydromantes italicus; Syn: Speleomantes italicus ) is a southern European salamander of the family lung lots Salamander ( Plethodontidae ).

Features

Adult animals are about 10 to 12.5 cm in length, with the females may be slightly longer than males. The dorsal coloration is highly variable and can be brownish to reddish and be occupied with different, dark brown to ocher spots. The dark, some light speckled belly is brownish in color. Fingers and toes are short, rounded and connected to half of its length with tension skins. The eyes of the animals are great. Between the nostrils and the upper lip shows a channel that only with a magnifying glass is visible, however. Adult animals have on each side of the head ear glands ( parotid ), the males during the mating season, a chin gland.

Dissemination

This species lives in northern and central Apennines of Tuscany on Umbria up to Abruzzo.

Way of life

The Italian cave salamander occurs in the mountains in moist and cool habitats at altitudes of 1600 meters before. The pure rural residents, which they have difficulty swimming, living in caves, rock crevices and under stones and rotten wood stacks. Since they are lungenlos, respiration takes place exclusively via the oral mucosa and the body surface. The animals feed on small insects, woodlice and spiders, which are captured with an almost massless long tongue of a skeleton -based spin tongue. The Italian cave salamander is probably active all year.

Reproduction

As with other cave salamanders mating occurs on land. The male rises to the female, clasping it with his front legs, giving secretions from his chin gland from. In the course of a " mating march " the male is a spermatophore onto the substrate. This seed packet is then taken up by the female with his cloaca. The female lays 5 to 15 eggs later in burrows, which usually happens in the spring and guarded there. The eggs hatch in about 6 to 11 months the pups.

Endangering

The Italian cave salamander by the IUCN as " Near Threatened " (roughly equivalent to the German category " early warning " ) classified. Evidence that the overall population is reduced, there is not. Locally may lead to habitat loss and sometimes specimens are collected illegally.