Salamanders - Please Comment!


Appearance

Salamanders are large lizards of about eight feet in length, they have short legs designed for short sprints, but usually move along on their bellies at a slow pace. Their coloration is usually a mix of browns, reds, and greens. Their eyes are somewhat large and are able to see easily at night, both above and below the water. Salamanders also have suctions cups on their feet which allow them to scale most surfaces with ease. In defense, salamanders are able to mix chemicals within their bodies that allow them to breath a potent semi-fire.


Habitat

Salamanders live in river systems throughout A'el even penetrating as far north as the Shrieker caves, though very seldom. Salamanders have adapted to all manner of temperatures and climates as a result. Their body temperature and activity levels are carefully regulated depending on where they are at the time.


Life, Hierarchy and Breeding

From the moment they hatch Salamanders are immersed in river water. Their eggs are usually laid in clusters of eight to ten beneath the sediment of rivers. Many of these eggs are eaten during the six month gestation period, usually less than three are left when the hatching occurs and even then only one lizardling survives. The first one that hatches immediately proceeds to devour the closest and easiest food source, the remaining unhatched eggs.

After hatching young males will spend several months gorging on fish within the territory of the male that sired them. This male will protect any hatchlings within it's territory until they reach maturity at which point he will either drive them out or one of them will kill him and claim the territory for itself. The latter happens only very rarely. Once a young male finds a territory of it's own it will patrol it on a daily basis breeding with any females that pass through.

Young females after hatching also remain in the territory of the male that sired them for a time, fully protected and growing far more rapidly then their male counterparts. Once they reach maturity they will leave of their own volition and begin patrolling the various rivers. Upon entering the territory of another male they will breed with it and remain in that territory until they lay their eggs, at which point they will move on to the next territory and repeat the process.


Diet

Save for the cannibalism that occurs immediately after their hatching, Salamanders will not eat their own kind unless they absolutely must to survive. In most cases the fish in the rivers systems are plenteous enough to sustain the Salamanders population, when it lapses the Salamanders will proceeds to hunt on dry land usually by spitting fire at roosting birds. Regardless of the environmental situation Salamanders rarely live very long, there are a host of deadly predators both on the land, and in the water and despite it's ability to breath fire, the Salamander remains quite vulnerable.

I know have in my head the amusing image of eight foot long red efts marching up and down river banks.

What colors are they? I've always been very fond of fire and reptiles so I couldn't wait to have a look at this post. It's very interesting that the males protect the nests and the females move on. With crocodiles and such it's usually the other way around. How much do you expect these creatures will be in you writings?

XD You're right that is amusing...

The colors are brown, green, and red and maybe gold sometimes, not entirely sure. When I am making creatures I tend to try and go for the unusual/unorthodox to assist in setting them apart from the wildlife we have on Earth. It seems it worked.

When it comes to how much they will actually be in my story, I honestly don't think they'll have much of a presence, Salamanders live in A'el which is a counterpart dimension to Tira where 17 of my nineteen books take place. The other two don't take place in A'el either, and there is limited connectivity between the dimensions up till a certain point in my timeline. Therefore, at least in the novels I have planned thus far, they won't be appearing much if at all.

Ah well. At least they exist.

I enjoyed these ideas of yours for the salamanders. Are there any sub-species of these creatures, or are the details simple due to their limited interaction with the storyline?

Also, is their a certain time of the year that the females would go into heat? Depending on the weather, I don't think a female would want to lay eggs during a drought or when a river system freezes over. How do they overcome these kinds of issues with their amphibious structure?

Also, just out of curiosity, are there any sea salamanders?

With regards to sub-species, the salamanders do differentiate somewhat between climates, but they are all able to interbreed. For example salamanders that live in the warmer climates generated by volcanic activity must find a way to hunt the different wild-life and adapt to the warm (sometimes scalding) temperature of the water. And likewise but opposite for colder regions. Salamanders have an incredible range of temperature adaptability despite being amphibians and are able to resist both extreme heat and cold given enough time for the necessary genes to emerge. I'm not entirely sure which climate the original Salamander species first started in but they have become able to survive in virtually any climate.

I think the previous paragraph answers this question... (Not sure?)

As for ocean dwelling salamanders, there are no bodies of water in the plane A'el large enough to be called oceans. There may be large networks of enormous inter-connected lakes, but nothing on the scale of an ocean.

Okay. But I must know... *stares intently* How do the eggs survive in a frozen climate? *continues to stare*

My friend does that when she asks about the ittey-bittey details.

Hmm... They'd probably have to migrate down to warmer water to lay their eggs...

Hm... I am satisfied.
Good job!!

O.O *shifty eyes*

*pokes everyone else*

*whispers* Is it unusual for Lady N to be satisfied?