Meet The Salamander

Make the Match - These salamanders look just like the one on page 22—but only one is an exact match? Can you spot it?

- Regina Hansen

Today, most people think of salamanders as lovable pets, but, for centuries, this gentle amphibian had a fiery reputation. The word “salamander” traces its roots to a Persian term that meant “fire within” or “lives in fire.” The fourth century B.C.E. Greek philosopher Aristotle was one of the first to claim that salamanders could live inside flames. He also said that they could extinguish a blaze just by walking across it. The first-century c.e. Roman writer Pliny the Elder tested this theory by throwing a salamander into a fire. The salamander died, but that did not kill the legend.