Kaylynn Salamander WKST wk5

Name: ________________________________
Salamander Synthesis

Developed by Kaylynn Wohl, 2020. University of Oregon Environmental Leadership Program.

All creatures have adaptations to survive in their habitat. Whether they can breathe
underwater with gills (like the northwestern salamander) or breathe through their skin
(like the b lack salamander), salamanders have adapted to their habitat to survive
according to their forest or woodland environments. Oregon is full of a variety of
salamander species and only commonly, one newt species (the rough-skinned newt). Did
you know that all newts are salamanders… but not all salamanders are newts? So what’s
the difference?

Salamanders have long tails with soft, moist skin while newts have dry, rough skin and
external gills and only live in the water. Salamanders can live both on the ground and in
the water. Newts are usually on the small side, but some salamanders (like the blotched
tiger salamander) can be quite large.

Refer to (https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/salamanders-and-newts) for more
information.

Definitions:
adaptations - the process by which a species becomes fitted to its environment; it is the
result of natural selection’s acting upon heritable variation over several generations
niche - the position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals;
the role of that organism
habitat - type of natural environment in which a particular species of organism lives,
eats, reproduces, etc.
salamander - group of amphibians typically characterized by a lizard-like appearance,
with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and
the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults
newt - salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae; semiaquatic (returns to water every
year to breed) , alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats

Directions: You just got hired at Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife as a scientist,
and your first assignment is to create a new species to be introduced to the Willamette
River. You’ve been asked to create a salamander. You will pick 3 adaptations that your
new species have developed according to the Traits and Adaptations table provided
below.

Then, with your imagination, give your species 3 new adaptations or characteristics that
are not on the table (these are completely up to you, Scientist). Then, write a paragraph
statement on why you chose those adaptations and what they’re useful for; describe your
species. Where do they live? What do they eat? What is their niche, or role, in their new
community at the Willamette River?

Draw and color your new salamander, and then give your species a name.

Step one: Use the provided species as examples to select (circle or highlight) 3 total
adaptations/ characteristics. Be unique in your choices, and don’t choose all 3 within the
same row (horizontal).

Salamanders Traits and Adaptations
Black Salamander 1) grows up to 2) black with a 3) lungless and

(Aneides five-and-a-half smattering of breathes through
flavipunctatus) inches in total bronze or green their skin
length specks across the
top of their heads,
backs, tails and legs
Northwestern 1) Solid, smooth 2) Common in 3) When disturbed,

Salamander brown skin that is Oregon but rarely make a ticking
(Ambystoma gracile) wet; grows to seen because they sound and stands in
almost 10 inches in live underground; a defensive posture
total length live in moist
crevices within logs
or rodent burrows
for shelter from
weather and
predators
Oregon Slender 1) Females grow 2) lungless and 3) Occasionally

Salamander about 12 percent breathe through clump together in
(Batrachoseps larger than males; their skin; live groups to remain
wrighti) brown body with mostly damp
big red splotches, underground or
black belly with within rotting logs,
large white flecks rather than within
2
water
Blotched Tiger 1) olive-colored 2) live almost 3) found in field,

Salamander blotches outlined in entirely on land in forests, prairies,
(Ambystoma black with gray grasslands and and other soft
mavortuim undersides; thick shrub-steppe ground lands,
melanostictum) bodied and can habitat (a type of
where they can
grow up to 13 low-rainfall natural
inches in total grassland); only hideaway under
length returns to water to the tree leaves, or
breed. underground;
breed during
monsoon season
Rough-skinned 1) dry granular skin 2) powerful 3) migrate long
Newt (most other neurological poison distances between
(Taricha granulosa) salamander species in their skin and their breeding and
have moist smooth eggs to protect non-breeding
skin); brown head them from habitat (spring and
and bright orange predators fall)
belly

Step two: U
sing your imagination, come up with 3 more traits, characteristics or
adaptations that your species has and why those traits are useful.

1) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
2) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3) _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3
Step three: On the blank page provided (on page 6), synthesize your salamander species
by drawing and coloring it. Label/ diagram all 6 of your traits. Feel free to use resources
like Google images to see what the salamanders in the table look like.

Step four: Write a short paragraph below providing the name for your salamander
species and why the 6 total traits and characteristics are useful to this creature before
the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife accepts your species blueprint and releases
them to the Willamette River. Refer to the example provided, but don’t recreate it.

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

4
Example:

This is the Two-Faced Salamander. It has wet skin like all salamanders do, but it has the
orange belly of the rough-skinned newt. The bright color helps attract mates while the
wet skin helps it stay cool on warm days. Since salamanders have lizard-like features, I
gave it a snake tongue to help catch the river gnats and other bugs in the air. The
poisonous nails are a defense mechanism developed to attack its predators. Also like the
rough-skinned newt, it has poisonous skin since it doesn’t like being held by humans. It
has important duties at the Willamette River (like picking up trash and protecting its
other amphibian friends) so they can’t waste its time being held or played with. The face
on the tail is what gives it its name. It’s useful in fooling its predators so it can attack
while keeping its actual face out of reach. The tail is also super strong for smacking
predators and clearing its pathway when walking.
5

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Name: ________________________________

Black Salamander 1) grows up to 2) black with a 3) lungless and

Northwestern 1) Solid, smooth 2) Common in 3) When disturbed,

Oregon Slender 1) Females grow 2) lungless and 3) Occasionally

Blotched Tiger 1) olive-colored 2) live almost 3) found in field,

predators and clearing its pathway when walking.

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Kaylynn Salamander WKST wk5

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Kaylynn Salamander WKST wk5

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Kaylynn Salamander WKST wk5

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Name: ________________________________

Black Salamander 1) grows up to 2) black with a 3) lungless and

Northwestern 1) Solid, smooth 2) Common in 3) When disturbed,

Oregon Slender 1) Females grow 2) lungless and 3) Occasionally

Blotched Tiger 1) olive-colored 2) live almost 3) ​ found in field,

predators and clearing its pathway when walking.

You might also like

Blotched Tiger 1) olive-colored 2) live almost 3) found in field,