Wild Fact #973 – A Breath of Fresh Air – Mudpuppy
If humans lived underwater, would a mudpuppy be man’s best friend? This is a philosophical question of course (as well, it helped me open up today’s post). That’s right animal fans, today’s fact is about the aquatic salamander also known as the mudpuppy. As many of you may know, the mudpuppy is a type of salamander which prefers to live in shallow lakes or streams. They may go unnoticed since they love hiding under rocks. I know I didn’t get to see them often growing up in Northern Ontario but believe me, they were there.
By this point, you are hopefully wondering what is so dog-gone interesting about this little underwater puppy? Well, I will give you a hint, it has to do with the way the mudpuppy breathes. You see, there are three different ways that the aquatic salamander is able to take in oxygen to survive. The primary source is through the brightly coloured external gills. The mudpuppy is one of the select few salamander species to retain its gills in adult form. This method of breathing is of course similar to fish. If the mudpuppy feels like mixing it up a little, they can also take in oxygen through their skin. Yep, that’s right! They can absorb oxygen right through their skin. Finally, if the mudpuppy really wants to, it can actually go to the surface and use it’s lungs to take in a nice deep breath of fresh air. As you can tell, suffocating these little creatures would be extremely difficult!
Mudpuppy Fast Fact: Mudpuppies received their name since it was believed they were capable of making sounds similar to a dog’s bark. This turned out to be false, however, the name stuck.
