What is "fire salamander"

n. A medium-sized black salamander with yellow spots ((taxlink Salamandra salamandra species noshow=1)), native to Europe, related to the tiger salamander.

n. European salamander having dark skin with usually yellow spots [syn: spotted salamander, Salamandra maculosa]

The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) is possibly the best-known salamander species in Europe.

It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant. Shades of red and orange may sometimes appear, either replacing or mixing with the yellow according to subspecies. Fire salamanders can have a very long lifespan; one specimen lived for more than 50 years in Museum Koenig, a German natural history museum.