Salamanders

Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela, the sole surviving order from the group Caudata. Urodela is a scientific Latin term based on the Ancient Greek : ourà dēlē "conspicuous tail". Caudata is the Latin for "tailed ones", from : "tail".

elemental spirit associated with fire

Samandarin or Samandarine is the main steroidal alkaloid secreted by the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). The compound is extremely toxic (LD50 = 70 μg/kg in mice). Poisoning can cause convulsions, respiratory paralysis, and eventual death. Samandarin is also believed to be the active ingredient in Salamander brandy, a Slovenian traditional medicinal alcoholic drink with purported hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac effects.

Chunerpeton (meaning "early creeping animal") is an extinct genus of salamander from the Middle or Late Jurassic Daohugou Beds in Ningcheng County, Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia), China, containing the only species Chunerpeton tianyiensis. It was a small animal measuring in length, and was neotenic, with the retention of external gills into adulthood.

Samandaridine is an extremely toxic alkaloid produced by the skin glands of various salamanders.

The Caudata are a group of amphibians containing the extant salamanders (the order Urodela) and all extinct species of amphibians more closely related to salamanders than to frogs. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults.

Pangerpeton is an extinct genus of salamanders. Its monotypic species is Pangerpeton sinensis.