Synonyms
Definition
Mental processing of environmental and social information and sensory input in salamanders.
Introduction
There are approximately 8,000 species of known amphibians, about 500 of which are salamanders (Frost 2019). Amphibians arose about 360 million years ago with the oldest salamander fossil dating to the Miocene (Petranka 1998). Members of the class Amphibia are ectothermic tetrapods, lack scales, and have heavily glandular skin. Salamanders are unique from frogs and caecilians, most obviously, by always having a tail and forelimbs; a few salamander species lack hind limbs. Many species have biphasic life cycles where they spend the first portion of their lives in water and their adult life on land; however, there are some species that are solely terrestrial and solely aquatic (Petranka 1998). Modes of respiration include gills, lungs, and gas exchange through the skin (i.e., cutaneous...
References
Agrillo, C. (2014). Numerical and arithmetic abilities in non-primate species. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Anthony, C. D., Wicknick, J. A., & Jaeger, R. G. (1997). Social interactions in two sympatric salamanders: Effectiveness of a highly aggressive strategy. Behaviour, 134, 71–88.
David, R. S., & Jaeger, R. G. (1981). Prey location through chemical cues by a terrestrial salamander. Copeia, 1981, 435–440.
Dawley, E. M., Fingerlin, A., Hwang, D., John, S. S., & Stankiewicz, C. A. (2000). Seasonal cell proliferation in the chemosensory epithelium and brain of red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 56, 1–13.
Ducey, P. K. (1989). Agonistic behavior and biting during intraspecific encounters in Ambystoma salamanders. Herpetologica, 1989, 155–160.
Frost, D. R. (2019). Amphibian species of the world: An online reference. Version 6.0. New York: American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved from http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html.
Gabor, C. R., & Jaeger, R. G. (1995). Resource quality affects the agonistic behaviour of territorial salamanders. Animal Behaviour, 49, 71–79.
Gibbons, M. E., Ferguson, A. M., Lee, D. R., & Jaeger, R. G. (2003). Mother-offspring discrimination in the red-backed salamander may be context dependent. Herpetologica, 59, 322–333.
Gillette, J. R. (2003). Population ecology, Social behavior, and intersexual differences in a natural population of red-backed salamanders: A long-term field study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette
Gillette, J. R., Kolb, S. E., Smith, J. A., & Jaeger, R. G. (2000). Pheromonal attractions to particular males by female redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). In R. Bruce, R. Jaeger, & L. Houck (Eds.), The Biology of plethodontid salamanders (pp. 431–440). New York: Springer Science and Business Media.
Herrick, C. J. (1948). The brain of the tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hill, R. L., Mendelson, J. R., III, & Stabile, J. L. (2015). Direct observation and review of herbivory in Sirenidae (Amphibia: Caudata). Southeastern Naturalist, 14, N5–N9.
Jaeger, R. G. (1981). Dear enemy recognition and the costs of aggression between salamanders. The American Naturalist, 117, 962–974.
Jaeger, R. G., & Forester, D. C. (1983). Duration of the brooding period in the mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) and its influence on aggression toward conspecifics. Copeia, 1983, 1098–1101.
Jaeger, R. G., & Gergits, W. F. (1979). Intra-and interspecific communication in salamanders through chemical signals on the substrate. Animal Behaviour, 27, 150–156.
Jaeger, R. G., Wicknick, J. A., Griffis, M. R., & Anthony, C. D. (1995). Socioecology of a terrestrial salamander: Juveniles enter adult territories during stressful foraging periods. Ecology, 76, 533–543.
Karuzas, J. M., Maerz, J. C., & Madison, D. M. (2004). An alternative hypothesis for the primary function of a proposed mate assessment behaviour in red-backed salamanders. Animal Behaviour, 68, 489–494.
Kohn, N. R., Jaeger, R. G., & Franchebois, J. (2005). Effects of intruder number and sex on territorial behavior of female red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus: Plethodontidae). Journal of Herpetology, 39, 645–648.
Krusche, P., Uller, C., & Dicke, U. (2010). Quantity discrimination in salamanders. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 213, 1822–1828.
Kundey, S. M., Millar, R., McPherson, J., Gonzalez, M., Fitz, A., & Allen, C. (2016). Tiger salamanders’ (Ambystoma tigrinum) response learning and usage of visual cues. Animal Cognition, 19, 533–541.
Lang, C., & Jaeger, R. G. (2000). Defense of territories by male-female pairs in the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus). Copeia, 2000, 169–177.
Mathis, A. (1990). Territoriality in a terrestrial salamander: The influence of resource quality and body size. Behaviour, 112, 162–175.
McGavin, M. (1978). Recognition of conspecific odors by the salamander Plethodon cinereus. Copeia, 1978, 356–358.
Nunes, V. d. S., & Jaeger, R. G. (1989). Salamander aggressiveness increases with length of territorial ownership. Copeia, 1989, 712–718.
Petranka, J. W. (1998). Salamanders of the US and Canada. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Prosen, E. D., Jaeger, R. G., & Lee, D. R. (2004). Sexual coercion in a territorial salamander: Females punish socially polygynous male partners. Animal Behaviour, 67, 85–92.
Roth, G. (1987). Studies in brain function: Visual behavior in salamanders. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Semlitsch, R. D. (2008). Differentiating migration and dispersal processes for pond-breeding amphibians. Journal of Wildlife Management, 72, 260–267.
Twitty, V., Grant, D., & Anderson, O. (1964). Long distance homing in the newt Taricha rivularis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 51, 51–58.
Uller, C., Jaeger, R., Guidry, G., & Martin, C. (2003). Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) go for more: Rudiments of number in an amphibian. Animal Cognition, 6, 105–112.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Berry, S.M., Mendelson, J.R. (2019). Caudata Cognition. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1011-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1011-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences