Editing Salamander (section)

===Skin===
[[File:Taricha granulosa (Rough-skinned newt).JPG|thumb|left|upright|[[Rough-skinned newt]]]]
The skin of salamanders, in common with other amphibians, is thin, permeable to water, serves as a respiratory membrane, and is well-supplied with glands. It has highly [[cornified]] outer layers, renewed periodically through a [[Moulting|skin shedding]] process controlled by hormones from the [[pituitary]] and [[thyroid]] glands. During moulting, the skin initially breaks around the mouth, and the animal moves forward through the gap to shed the skin. When the front limbs have been worked clear, a series of body ripples pushes the skin toward the rear. The hind limbs are extracted and push the skin farther back, before it is eventually freed by friction as the salamander moves forward with the tail pressed against the ground.<ref name=stebbins16>Stebbins & Cohen (1995) pp. 10–16</ref> The animal often then eats the resulting sloughed skin.<ref name="EoR pp.60–68"/>

[[Mucous gland|Glands]] in the skin discharge [[mucus]] which keeps the skin moist, an important factor in skin respiration and thermoregulation. The sticky layer helps protect against bacterial infections and molds, reduces friction when swimming, and makes the animal slippery and more difficult for predators to catch. Granular glands scattered on the upper surface, particularly the head, back, and tail, produce repellent or toxic secretions.<ref name="stebbins16"/> Some salamander toxins are particularly potent. The [[rough-skinned newt]] (''Taricha granulosa'') produces the neurotoxin [[tetrodotoxin]], the most toxic nonprotein substance known. Handling the newts does no harm, but ingestion of even a minute fragment of skin is deadly. In feeding trials, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, and mammals were all found to be susceptible.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Brodie, Edmund D. Jr. |year=1968 |title=Investigations on the skin toxin of the adult rough-skinned newt, ''Taricha granulosa'' |journal=Copeia |volume=1968 |issue=2 |pages=307–313 |jstor=1441757 |doi= 10.2307/1441757 |s2cid=52235877 }}</ref>

Mature adults of some salamander species have "nuptial" glandular tissue in their [[cloaca]]e, at the base of their tails, on their heads or under their chins. Some females release [[pheromone|chemical substances]], possibly from the ventral cloacal gland, to attract males, but males do not seem to use pheromones for this purpose.<ref name=Kentwood>{{cite book |title=The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians |last=Wells |first=Kentwood, D. |year=2010 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-89333-4 |pages=411–417 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDKEKy5JJbIC&pg=PA411 }}</ref> In some [[Plethodontidae|plethodonts]], males have conspicuous mental glands on the chin which are pressed against the females' nostrils during the courtship ritual. They may function to speed up the mating process, reducing the risk of its being disrupted by a predator or rival male.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=León, Ezequiel González |author2=Ramírez-Pinilla, Martha Patricia |year=2009 |title=The mental gland of ''Bolitoglossa nicefori'' (Caudata: Plethodontidae) |journal=Amphibia-Reptilia |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=561–569 |doi=10.1163/156853809789647013 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The gland at the base of the tail in ''[[Plethodon cinereus]]'' is used to mark [[fecal pellets]] to proclaim territorial ownership.<ref name=Kentwood/>