Salamandridae are unlike all other salamanders in having rough-textured skin that is not slimy. Costal grooves usually are not distinct. Most salamandrids have a biphasic life history with aquatic larvae and metamorphosed adults that may be terrestrial or aquatic. The tail is finlike in aquatic forms but not in terrestrial forms. Larvae have four pairs of gill slits and large external gills.
Legs are relatively long, prominent and robust.
The morphological characters given below are the ones standardly used to diagnose the salamander family Salamandridae and to assess its phylogenetic relationships to other salamanders. The individual characteristics are in most cases shared with other salamanders and are not synapomorphies of the Salamandridae. The premaxilla may consist of a single bone or separated, paired bones. The angular bone is fused to the mandible. A frontosquamosal arch is present in some genera.