The Legendary Salamander - a Rare Pet

 The Legendary Salamander - a Rare Pet 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

This is a series of photographs I took to record the salamander, a pet I kept with my children at home.  I got interested in this enigmatic creature because of its reported legendary characteristics.  It became the source of fairy tales and tall stories for curious kids in the neighborhood. "How big will it grow?" asked a seven-year old.  "As big as a crocodile," another child intercepted my answer. Conversations like this made me a kid among them, and I loved it. It is crossing the barrier of adulthood back to childhood. I was carried away with the delightful company as the lowly salamander suddenly grew into a dinosaur, dragon, monster of the deep and, if you won't mind hearing, fire beast from hell. Of course these are all but fantasy.   

 

 

 

 

Here is the result of my research. The salamander is an amphibian which, as with many real creatures, often has been ascribed fantastic and sometimes occult qualities that ancient and medieval writers ascribed.  Many of these qualities are rooted in verifiable traits of the natural creature but often exaggerated. A large body of legend, mythology, and symbolism has developed around this creature over the centuries. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) wrote the following on the salamander: "This has no digestive organs, and gets no food but from the fire, in which it constantly renews its scaly skin. The salamander renews its scaly skin in the fire—for virtue."

But there must be a hidden truth in myth.  Why not? 

If you have seen with your own eyes how a lost limb or tail grows back, a biological phenomenon called regeneration, then you are filling up the missing link of a legend and a true story.

I read an article, "Could we soon regrow our limbs?" Scientists are one step closer after finding clues to regeneration in the genome of the Iberian salamander
1. Genome of the Iberian salamander holds the key to regrowing lost limbs
2. Its enormous genome could help cure Parkinson's disease
3. The genome of the Iberian ribbed newt (relative of the salamander) is six times larger than the human genome and has 15,000 genes responsible for protein growth.
(Reference: Could we soon REGROW our limbs? By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline PUBLISHED: 18:00 GMT, 29 December 2017 | UPDATED: 03:45 GMT, 30 December 2017)

But how big really does a salamander grow?

With hundreds of different types of salamanders, there are many different sizes. Most salamanders are around 6 inches (15 centimeters) long or less. The largest is the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), which can grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) from head to tail and can weigh up to 140 lbs. (63 kilograms). The smallest is the Thorius arboreus, a species of pygmy salamander. It can be as small as 0.6 in (1.7 cm). (Acknowledgement: Internet photo)

When I showed this photo of a giant salamander, less and less kids came over to see our pet, and my children would ask me, "Where will we keep it when it outgrows its aquarium?"

Suddenly I woke up as a grownup again.  This time I have more things to explain.~