Reptile/Amphibian of the Week

[Teenage Herpetologist]

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a good week.

This week's Amphibian of the Week is...

The Mudpuppy!!!!

Mudpuppies, also known as Waterdogs, is a large aquatic salamander found in rivers, lakes, creeks, and streams. Their color varies between dark brown or tan on top, a paler-colored belly, and many black spots. As a larva throughout life, has bushy red gills. Eggs are laid in late Spring attached to rocks that are underwater. The eggs hatch in 40 to 60 days. Hatchlings are striped on their back and sides, and are about an inch long; they mature in about five years. Smaller species of these salamanders, such as Axolotls, are found mostly in the South.

 

[kinyonga]

You've found another interesting creature to tell us about!

Did you know they have lungs and can breathe air?

Did you know they're “bio-indicators"...acting as an early warning system for environmental problems?

Do you know why they're called "water dogs"?

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

I actually don't know exactly why they are called waterdogs. Isn't something about their call? Isn't it like a bark?

 

[kinyonga]

I actually don't know exactly why they are called waterdogs. Isn't something about their call? Isn't it like a bark?

You got it...but it doesn't really sound like a barking dog.

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

Yeah, but its little call is cute.