A strange creature on Earth is capable of walking 14 km to reproduce

Science Adina Camarasu
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Some salamanders can travel over 14 kilometers in search of a partner. While most of the salamanders usually mate near their ‘house’, some are crossing roads and rivers on incredible distances to find ‘their right ones’.

Scientists have come up with an ingenious idea: using a treadmill to observe their behavior. The researchers discovered that these creatures can walk continuously for more than two hours.

Ohio University researchers have analyzed salamanders coming from various tropical areas to find out the distance they can continuously walk on the treadmill without getting tired.

During their journey to find a sexual partner, salamanders are facing dangerous lands and predators. For researchers, it still remained a mystery why the animals have this bizarre behavior.

‘I think it is incredibly dangerous for such little creatures’, said the leading researcher, Robert Denton. ‘They could be eaten or they might dry up because of the sunlight’, he added.

The researchers have analyzed salamanders’ genetic diversity and the endurance of two types of salamanders coming from the Ambystoma genus.

One of them is a female and reproduces by cloning and sometimes by ‘borrowing’ the male semen it finds on the leaves. The second type is reproducing following the traditional method.

The study revealed that male salamanders were capable of walking on the treadmill for four continuous hours, while the female salamanders only walked for two hours.

‘Perhaps the simplest explanation for this awkward behavior is the fact that there are very few areas for breeding and these animals have adapted their lifestyle, managing to survive that distance and reproduce’, concluded Denton.