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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior pp 1–6Cite as

Caudata Locomotion

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Synonyms

Salamander or newt locomotion

Definition

Movement used by salamanders to traverse their environment.

The Caudata are amphibians that generally show the basal tetrapod body plan. They are lizard-like in appearance with slender bodies and short limbs (Girling 2013). They tend to have four toes on the forelimb and five on the hindlimb. Some fully aquatic species, like sirens and amphiumas, have reduced or absent hindlimbs. Like all amphibians, the Caudata have a distinct larval and adult stage. They have permeable skin that usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, while others take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults (Duellman and Trueb 1994; Stebbins and Cohen 1997).

Major Locomotor Modes

Caudata locomotion can be broken down broadly into terrestrial and aquatic movement (Duellman and Trueb 1994; Karakasiliotis et al. 2016; Stebbins...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY, USA

    Aleksander B. Sawiec

  2. Department of Anatomy, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY, USA

    Dan E. Gibbons & Michael C. Granatosky

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY, USA

    Peter Gagliano

Authors
  1. Aleksander B. Sawiec
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  2. Dan E. Gibbons
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  3. Peter Gagliano
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  4. Michael C. Granatosky
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael C. Granatosky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Khalil Iskarous

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Sawiec, A.B., Gibbons, D.E., Gagliano, P., Granatosky, M.C. (2020). Caudata Locomotion. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1005-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1005-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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