Fire salamander

With its bright yellow colour, the Salamandra salamandra clearly stands out the most among the tailed amphibians - no two patterns are the same! The pattern is so individual that it can be compared to our fingerprints. Hidden behind the fire salamander's beady eyes are large glands with which it can produce venom for its defence. As an adult animal, it is therefore rather unpopular as a snack with predators. Female fire salamanders are veritable sperm banks - they can store the male's sperm for at least a year and give live birth to the larvae when the time is right for them. This usually happens on cool spring nights in forest streams.