Flying salamanders? Well, not quite, but there is a species called the wandering salamander that lives in the tallest trees on Earth, and can do a very convincing imitation of flight, parachuting from a great height on its way down to another branch, another tree or the ground.
There are other wingless animals that can fly safely through the air. The flying squirrel may be the archetype, and some spiders, lizards, and frogs can sail through the air and come in for a soft landing. Most have clear control surfaces – the flying squirrel’s skin flaps are a prime example. But wandering salamanders, which live in the tops of redwoods, look almost identical to closely related species that never go airborne.
In a study published Monday in Current Biology, researchers tested the skills of salamanders in trees and on the ground using a wind tunnel to simulate flights from the tops of trees.
“We climb trees to study them,” said Christian E. Brown, a doctoral student in biology at the University of South Florida and an author of the study, “but studying flight is difficult in nature, almost impossible.” We needed the wind tunnel for that.”
Even in the laboratory, working with the animals causes problems.
“They just jump out of your hands,” said Mr. Brown. “We had to slow down and the wind tunnel is also safer for the animals. We had vets checking them in between trials, and we did three trials a day with each animal, no more. It took many weeks to get to 45 trials.”
They carefully dropped a non-tree-like species into the tunnel and watched as it tumbled headlong to the bottom.
But when a wandering salamander slid out of a researcher’s hand into the tunnel, it stretched its legs as soon as it felt the breeze, stayed perfectly upright, gliding up and down with the airflow and turning gracefully, apparently very at ease as it defied gravity. These are useful skills for an animal that lives on top of a 250-foot-tall tree.
Wandering salamanders have some physical characteristics that can contribute to their hovering ability. Their bodies are slightly flatter than those of non-arboreal species, and their limbs are long. Their large feet and long toes form hollow surfaces that can act as a kind of parachute, slowing their fall through the air.
But these body characteristics do not fully explain their remarkable ability to twist and turn to change direction slowly, control their speed and maintain an upright posture.
“They can make moves and spin on a dime,” said Mr. brown.
The flight controls appear to be the legs and tail. When the researchers dropped the wandering salamanders upside down or backwards into the wind tunnel, they were able to instantly spin their tails and spin upright. When they tuck the back right leg, the body spins around that leg. They can take poses that change their speed. But what exactly enables the animal to make these movements remains a mystery.
Watching a movie of the wandering salamander soaring and floating like an astronaut aboard the space station, you get the impression that the animal is having a great time. Is the?
“We can’t interview them,” Mr. Brown said wistfully, “and it’s hard to know what a salamander is thinking.”