雙語閱讀：蠑螈類是什麼樣的動物？

What Is a Salamander ?

A salamander is amphibian——an animal that lives both on land and in the water。 It is a lizard-like member of a group of back-boned creatures between fish and reptiles。 This class includes frogs and toads。 Like fish and reptiles， the salamander is cold-blooded。

It was anciently believed that the first salamander was born out of the heart of a fire and that the so-called fire salamanders were unaffected by heat。 In fact， the salamander is active usually only in the cool of the night， when it hunts worms， slugs and insects。

The salamander， which grows up to about 11 inches long， is attacked by few enemies， as its skin glands are poisonous。 But the European water snake is not affected by the venom and frequently makes the salamander its prey。

蠑螈類是什麼樣的動物？

蠑螈類是兩棲動物，即一種既可生活在陸地又可生活在水中的動物。它的樣子象蜥蜴，是介乎魚類和爬行類之間的脊椎動物。這類動物還包括青蛙和蟾蜍。同魚類和爬行類一樣，蠑螈類也是冷血動物。

古時候，人們認為第一個蠑螈是從火當中誕生的，所謂的火蠑螈是不受暑熱影響的。其實，蠑螈類通常只在夜涼時，才出來活動，捕食蠕蟲、蛞蝓和昆蟲。

蛛螺類可生長到長達11英寸左右，沒有什麼天敵敢碰它，因為它的皮腺有毒。可是這種毒液對歐洲水蛇絲毫不起作用，因此蠑螈常常成為歐洲水蛇的犧牲品。

摘自 1000 Questions and Answers

整理：魯蒙海

編輯：董 董

稽核：海 新

終審：張 揚