The species of salamandra ( Salamandra) is founded in Europe, therefore and in our fauna, with two kinds. That is: the SPOTTED or SPECKLED salamandra ( Salamandra salamandra (LINNE) and THE BLACK SALAMANDRA OF PRENJ (Salamandra atra prenjensis MIKŠIĆ, S.) .
This subspecies is described in the Herald of the Earthly Museum in Sarajevo in 1969., which is diversified by a range of various forms of morphological character and specific horology (expansion).While the range of form is connected to the massives of the Alpe, to this point smaller enclaves on the Dinarida are familiar as some separated and rare sites ( Prenj and Čvrsnica in Herzegovina and Treskavica in Bosnia). These populations pertain to a specific race of subspecies that is described by the upper title.
Through a comparative method, analized specimens from the Prenj are distinguished by smaller measurements; the length of their body diversifies from 11 to 14 cm and they never reach the measurement of the typical form, that measures out to a length of 16 cm. Differences are also conveyed in the arrangement and shape of palatal teeth that are shaped as the letter S. Earlier, in literature it has been mentioned that isolated populations on the Dinarids represent postglacial relicts of the once wider – spread types of the black salamander. Because of the gradual setting in of a warmer climate and the withdrawal of ice in the earlier geological epochs these organisms have retreated towards the peaks of the Dinarian mountains, and that represents their final resort.That is the reason why these rare populations on the prior mentioned mountainous masives are on heights above 1800 m., hence above the upper forest barrier, on the open carbonate rocky grounds.During warm summer days they are found hiding in damp places under table-like rocks, and like the typical night animal they are very active during the night time.It is interesting to say that the first time the black salamandra was spotted , was in mid – summer time way back in 1895. by a curator of the Earthly Museum in Sarajevo by the name of O. Reiser and those specimens are preserved till this day in the natural science collections of this museum.
This information was published by the famous austrian herpetologist F. Werner in 1898.
