r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Aug 31 '24
Mod Pick During mating season, male red salamanders are not aggressive towards each other. In fact, they actually court one another — this likely isn't a case of mistaken sex, but an attempt to trick rival males into wasting their sperm packets (spermatophores).
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u/doinkmead Aug 31 '24
That is hilariously gay
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u/LazyLich Sep 01 '24
It's not gay bro. I'm the only straight one in the pond, bro.
The other guys banged a dude.
I'm just making sure that I'm the only one that bangs a chick.Whatever it takes, bro
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u/doinkmead Sep 01 '24
But your sperm packets bro‼️
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u/LazyLich Sep 01 '24
Bro it's fine! I'm not sitting on his sperm packet!
So long as I dont put his sperm packet inside of me, it isnt gay!
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u/IdyllicSafeguard Aug 31 '24
Sources:
Amphibians and Reptiles of North Carolina
Amphibia Web - Lungless Salamanders (Plethodontidae)
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u/MildlyUpsetGerbil Aug 31 '24
That's funny, I know a guy that does the same thing.
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u/etherama1 Aug 31 '24
Haha! Jokes on you! I was only pretending to be gay! Looks like you're all out of juice 😎
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u/muricabrb Sep 01 '24
Sounds like an IASIP episode lmao
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u/Nickcapuchin Sep 01 '24
I could see Mac 'taking one for the team' before he came out. Honestly I could see him doing it now lol
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u/Metal_is_Perfection Sep 02 '24
Pls Insert the: "I dont just want to win. Others should fail." Meme with the Asian guy from the yearbook
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u/CluelessPresident Sep 01 '24
Why is the little dude at the bottom right looking like an oil painting
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u/Brief_Background_109 Sep 04 '24
This is so cool! I could read stuff like this all day! Thank you!
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u/Accurate_Command3411 Sep 02 '24
Other animals during mating season:IF YOU WANT TO GET A MATE YOU SHALL FIGHT ME FIRST YOU IMBICLE These salamanders:yeah we chillin'
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u/IdyllicSafeguard Aug 31 '24
The red salamander is known as a 'lungless salamander' (a plethodontid) and it indeed doesn't have any lungs. Instead, it breathes directly through its skin — an ability called 'cutaneous respiration'.
Along the sides of its body, it has 16–17 vertical grooves, each one corresponding to a space between the salamander's ribs. These are called 'costal grooves' and they function to transport water over the surface of the body by providing channels through which it can run, helping to keep the salamander's skin moist and fit to respire effectively.
The diet of a red salamander consists mostly of small invertebrates like insects, spiders, and worms. To catch them, it uses a projectile tongue that can extend and retract in milliseconds.
When threatened by a predator, this salamander will coil its body into a C-shaped defence posture. It also possesses glands that can produce a toxic secretion.
A male red salamander begins courting a female by rubbing his snout on hers. He then wriggles and squeezes his way beneath her body, until his head is beneath her tail and her head is on top of his tail. They walk around like this for a few minutes until the male drops his sperm packet (called a 'spermatophore').
He uses his tail to guide the female to the sperm packet — waving it in the air, from side to side, like a happy dog — until she picks it up.
In autumn, the female sticks her clutch of 30–130 eggs to the underside of a stream-side rock or log. She guards them for 2 to 3 months until they hatch, then they are on their own.
A red salamander's larval period can last anywhere from 1.5 years in coastal regions where elevation is near sea level, to 3.5 years in the colder, higher altitude regions of New York — the highest altitude that red salamanders live at is around 1,500 metres (4,920 ft).
You can read more about the red salamander and its sneaky seductive tactics on my website here!