Natural History Story

For my California Natural History story, I wanted to talk about the California Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus) that I saw while on a hike on this last Monday. Some of the things that are so interesting to me about it are the fact that it's lungless and breathes through its skin. This means that they live in damp environments on land, and like high humidity. When its dryer and the air is cold, they hide underground. Another interesting thing is that this species resides within a limited area in California; although they can be found in many different types of habitats throughout California. They're found in chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, forests, humans yards, under driftwood, logs, rocks, bark, stumps, anything moist. Their behavior is interesting when found as well: these guys tend to be in a curled position when found, as a defensive mechanism. They remain this way until they try to retreat, springing away, they can also release sticky skin secretions which can glue the mouth shut of a predator. They also have the ability to regrow their tails if they were to be severed off.

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