WILDLIFE

The Himalayan Salamanders

Himalayan newt is the sole representative of the order Caudata among the amphibian fauna of the Indian subcontinent and is listed under the endangered category of Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The species is found at altitudes of 1500m - 2250m in cold climates of the Eastern Himalayan region and has been reported to exist in a range spreading out from eastern Nepal through the Eastern Himalaya uptil Southeast Asia.

The salamanders are dark in colouration,slow and sluggish and unlike frogs and toads, do not produce prominent sounds. They moreover remain active in their breeding pools for very short period between April and early September.
Salamanders are secretive in their habits. During the warm summer months from April to September, they are known to inhabit cool mountain lakes , temporary and perennial pool and streams. Over the cold winter months from October to March, they hibernate under leaf litter, decaying logs and in mud burrows beneath forests. They swim slowly with undulatory motions of their tails, occasionally surfacing to breathe. Water-bettles and bugs,frog tadpoles, insect larvae, earthworms, snails and slugs comprise the principal diet of the animal.

Salamanders often shelter among bamboo stumps during the dry season,where they feed on the termites and woodlice that infest rooting vegetation.
While mostly dark in colour, the Tylototriton verrucosus has light brown limbs and tail. It's toes and fingers and under surface of it's tail are pale in colour. The body is cylindrical in shape and the head ringed by a hard porous ridge, with short longitudinal ridges along the vertex. The snout is short but larger in diameter than the eye. The eyes are moderate in size but have large upper eyelids. Large glandular tubercles occur in line along the body, terminating at the tail. The tympanum is distinct. The nostrils which are located close to the tip of the blunt snout that have a space between them are semi-circular and are closed by a small flap of skin.

Palatine teeth are present in line with the internal nostrils along two ridges, which meet in front but widely diverge behind. The animal's body is around three times the length of its head, having four short stumpy limbs with 4 fingers and 5 toes, and a long tail resembling that of the crocodile. Thus the animal is also known as the Crocodile Salamander because of this overall resemblance.
The salamanders do not show sexual dimorphism. Through most of the year the males and females are difficult to distinguish apart.

However, during the breeding season, they change in appearance, making identification easier. A highly distended belly distinguishes the females, while the males expel milt when their abdomen is pressed hard

Some Endangered Species