A salamander has four legs and a long tail, so it looks a lot like a lizard. It is not a lizard, or a reptile at all. Salamanders are amphibians, cousins of frogs. Their scientific group is called Caudata (kaw-DAY-tuh), from a Latin word meaning "tailed," and scientists sometimes just call them caudates. The United States has more kinds of salamanders than any other country in the world. Some live on land and only visit water to lay eggs. Some live in water their whole lives. Newts do both: they start in water, spend a few years on land as a bright orange stage called an eft, and then go back to the water as adults.
This lesson is part of Certified Junior Herpetologist. Enrollment is self-paced, with no deadline to finish (about 30 hours).
