Golden-striped Salamander

• GeneralEndemic to north-western Iberia; its tongue shoots out like a chameleon's.
• It is the only European salamander able to shed its tail: it breaks it off along a fracture plane and the tail goes on moving, distracting the predator, a mechanism typical of lizards and practically unique among the continent's newts and salamanders.
• Its tail can be twice the length of its body, the greatest proportion of any European amphibian, and it uses it to launch itself into a jump and as support when climbing wet rock.
• It catches prey by shooting out its tongue at high speed, which is uncommon among European salamanders, and it is a strict endemic of north-western Iberia.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)

Habitat and environment

Shaded streams, brooks and humid Atlantic woodland of the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula

Size at birth

An aquatic larva that may take one or two years to complete metamorphosis

Sexual maturity

3 years

Gestation / incubation

Larval development in shaded streams

Litter / clutch size

20 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Chioglossa lusitanica

Best time: From autumn to spring, on rainy nights, beside mountain streams in north-western Iberia; it is very fast and sheds its tail if held.

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.