Black jumping salamander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Black jumping salamander |
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The Ixalotriton niger, also known as the black jumping salamander, is a special kind of salamander. It belongs to the Plethodontidae family. This salamander lives only in Mexico and nowhere else in the world. Its home is in warm, wet montane forests and rocky places. Sadly, its home is shrinking, which puts it in danger.
What it Looks Like
The black jumping salamander is long and thin. It has a wide head and eyes that stick out a bit. Its arms and legs are long, and its hands and feet are big. It also has a long tail that gets thinner towards the end.
This salamander can grow to be about 6 centimetres (2.4 in) (about 2.4 inches) long. It is usually a shiny black color. But when night comes, it can change to a chocolate brown color! Sometimes, its nose has a small white spot. The tips of its toes are red. This might be because there is no color pigment there, letting you see the tiny blood vessels underneath.
Where it Lives
The Ixalotriton niger is found in Chiapas State in southwest Mexico. It lives high up, about 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) (about 3,600 feet) above sea level. This area is on the Atlantic side of the Northern Highland Mountains.
Its home is made of rocky cliffs with cracks in them. These rocks are covered in evergreen forests. These forests are full of plants that grow on other plants, called epiphytes. These include mosses, ferns, bromeliads, philodendrons, and orchids.
How it Behaves
The black jumping salamander likes to live in trees. Scientists first described this species in 1989. It is quite hard to find because it is very shy. It moves around on tree trunks. If something scares it, it can jump like a lizard to get away!
If a predator tries to catch it, the salamander can drop its tail. This is called autotomy. The tail keeps wiggling, distracting the predator while the salamander escapes. It can also make a sticky, bad-smelling liquid from special glands to protect itself.
Unlike many amphibians, young black jumping salamanders do not have a tadpole stage in water. Instead, they grow directly inside the egg until they are ready to hatch as tiny salamanders.
Its Status
The Ixalotriton niger is listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This means it is at a high risk of becoming extinct (disappearing forever).
One reason it's endangered is that its home area is very small, only about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) (about 3.8 square miles). The forest where it lives is being cut down for logging. For a while, people thought this salamander might have already disappeared. But in 2000, ten of them were found! Scientists looked for them again in 2006 and 2007 but did not find any. However, it was raining a lot during those nights, and the salamanders might have moved higher up into the tree canopy where they were harder to spot.
