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Discover Nature: Salamander Metamorphosis

A spotted salamander rests on a fallen log. Some salamander species are transforming from aquatic larvae to amphibious adults this week in Missouri. Watch for these unique creatures in the woods and near shallow water.

This week along Missouri’s streams, ponds, swamps, wetlands, and ditches, watch for salamanders undergoing a life-changing transformation… 

 

Nearly 50-species and subspecies of salamanders live in Missouri.  With bodies that look like lizards, but skin like frogs, salamanders rely on clean, fresh water for the first stage of their lives as gilled, aquatic larvae. 

 

This week, some salamander species are metamorphosing into adult amphibians that live mostly on land and breathe air.  Like tadpoles become frogs, salamanders transform from swimming juveniles, to four-legged adults that can live on land and in water. 

 

Salamanders eat insects, worms, and slugs, and salamander eggs and juvenile forms provide an important food source for many other animals. 

 

Amphibian populations are declining, and a fifth of our salamanders have been declared Species of Conservation Concern in Missouri. 

 

Protecting our groundwater quality, and sensitive habitats is critical for their survival. 

 

Watch for young salamanders transforming into adults this week in nature, and learn more about how to protect the places they live at missouriconservation.org

 

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Kyle Felling was born in the rugged northwest Missouri hamlet of St. Joseph (where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended). Inspired from a young age by the spirit of the early settlers who used St. Joseph as an embarkation point in their journey westward, Kyle developed the heart of an explorer and yearned to leave for adventures of his own. Perhaps as a result of attending John Glenn elementary school, young Kyle dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but was disheartened when someone told him that astronauts had to be good at math. He also considered being a tow truck driver, and like the heroes of his favorite childhood television shows (The A-Team and The Incredible Hulk) he saw himself traveling the country, helping people in trouble and getting into wacky adventures. He still harbors that dream.
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