Salamanders and newts are long-bodied amphibians with long tails. They are often nocturnal, and are all carnivorous. They feed on insects, worms, slugs and snails, and some also prey on frog tadpoles. Some salamanders live in water all the time, and several kinds even keep their gills into adulthood. Others live on land but return to the water to lay their eggs. Many species are brightly coloured to warn that they are toxic. Newts are salamanders with long, flattened tails.

Adults with gills

The axolotl is a large aquatic salamander that lives only in Lake Xochimilco in Mexico. Measuring up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) long, it retains many features into adulthood that it had as a larva, such as its feathery gills. In every other way it lives as an adult, and can still reproduce.

​​​​​​​The mudpuppy from North America also keeps its gills as an adult. Mudpuppies are also known as waterdogs because adults have a “barking” call.

​​​​​​​The olm is another aquatic salamander with feathery external gills. It has pale skin and is completely blind. The olm lives only in the waters that flow through some underground caves in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Defence

Many amphibians can produce bad-tasting or poisonous substances from their skins to deter predators. Brightly coloured skin is a warning sign. If attacked, some salamanders and newts will lash out with their heads or tails, where their poison glands are located. The sharp-ribbed salamander forces its spiky ribs through its own skin to impale predators. The fire salamander has glands on its spine that can squirt a jet of toxic fluid at its attacker a distance of up to 80 centimetres (30 inches).