One-third of the known salamander species are found in North America. The highest concentration of these is found in the Appalachian Mountains region, where the Plethodontidae are thought to have originated in mountain streams. Here, vegetation zones and proximity to water are of greater importance than altitude.
Habitats
Salamanders encompass approximately 500 species of amphibians. They typically have slender bodies, short legs, and long tails. Usually found in moist orarid habitats in the northern hemisphere, most salamanders are small, although there are two species that reach up to 5 feet in length.
salamanders their lives and are therefore restricted to living in permanent bodies of water, frequenting the bottom of riverside marshes, weedy ponds, lakes, rivers and streams; hiding in the weeds and vegetation or excavations under rocks and logs during the day and emerging at night to feed on crayfish, tadpoles, fish, worms, snails and aquatic insects.
The gills are lost when the salamander changes into an adult. Some salamanders lay their eggs in moist places on land and their young bypass the aquatic stage. Salamanders live in North and South America and the temperate zones of Europe, Asia, and North Africa.