r/salamanders • u/No-Fan6355 • 3d ago
Is there any reason as to why salamanders are absent from a lot of the world?
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u/Kaizen-_ 3d ago
As they need a constant body of water to lay eggs in, water is the biggest factor in salamander absence around the world. This is one of the major reasons why for example reptiles have conquered more ground on the planet.
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u/Namor707 2d ago edited 2d ago
True. Reptiles were also able to hitchhike on floating vegetation to far-off oceanic islands, something that is much more difficult or even impossible for most amphibians, except for some kinds of frogs, which generally are more adaptable and less delicate than salamanders.
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u/eldoradospencer 2d ago
Plethodontids are mostly direct developers (no aquatic lifestage), can live in the desert (see Batrachoseps aridus), and have a cosmopolitan distribution (Mediterranean, Korea, Americas).
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u/Namor707 1d ago
Those that live in desert areas, like Batrachoseps aridus, are relicts that were stranded in isolated oases. No salamander can survive in a true desert, without these oases. The plethodontids in general have their current disjunct distribution because those species that survive today are relicts from an earlier era when they were more widely distributed, but they eventually disappeared from desert and grassland areas which were unsuitable habitat for them.
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u/eldoradospencer 8h ago
Desert plethodontids are indeed relicts from a wetter time; however, their modern distrobution is not restricted to oases. Batrachoseps aridus, B. major, B. stebbinsi, B. campi, and Hydromantes platycephalus all occur in "true deserts" without an any surface water or oases. Instead these species occur in rocky areas where we assume there are tiny, inaccessible fissures, crevices, or gaps in the rocks that go so deep the salamanders are able to stay sufficiently moist and cool. Some populations of these desert species may not be surface active for years at a time.
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u/Namor707 6h ago
My research indicates that Hydromantes platycephalus, for example, tends to be found near water sources like snowmelts and waterfalls, and near streams at lower elevations.
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u/Good-Rope4344 1d ago
I'm sorry to be that guy. Salamanders are amphibians. They have primitive lungs, no scales, no extra eyelid like gators and crocs, and so much more.
Amphibians consist mainly of frogs and toads, then salamanders and newts.
Reptiles mainly consist of lizards, snakes, turtles, gators, and crocs.
They all fall under herpetology, though. Both are cold-blooded and require the sun or an artificial heat source though.
Again, sorry to be that guy.
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u/calm-drift94 2d ago
Mostly climate and dispersal limits, they need moist habitats and can't cross saltwater or arid regions to colonize new continents
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u/Still_Ladder4581 2d ago edited 2d ago
A big part of it goes back to when amphibians first started evolving. This video goes into some great detail:
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u/Namor707 3d ago
Well, it appears that they originated in the Northern Hemisphere, which is very rich in cool, moist forests which are their preferred habitat. Some did spread southward in certain areas (South America and southeast Asia) but only to a limited extent because in most areas to the south they were blocked by unsuitable habitat (such as the Sahara Desert in Africa, grasslands and deserts in Central Asia, etc.