The sacro-caudal region is made up of two to four vertebrae. The caudal, or tail, region has f rom twenty to over one-hundred in some Oedipina of Central and South America. In the other species, the ribs are al ong all or almost all of the dorsal tracts and sometimes also in sacro-caudal region. All of the salamanders have a basic limb structure common to all vertebrates, with the front legs attached to the thoracic girdle but not articulating with the vertebra l column. The back legs have a pelvic girdle articulating with only one sacral vertebra.
Most species have four fingers on the front limbs and five toes on the hind.
An interesting characteristic of aquatic salamanders is that they have no salivary glands. Salamanders are not like frogs in that they don't use their tongues to capture their food. All of the non-aquatic salamanders have a very mobile and well developed tongue which is used to procure food when they hunt. Some lungless salamand ers have a mushroom-shaped tongue that is darted onto prey like a chameleon. Salamanders usually have very small teeth which are implanted on margins of the lower and upper jaws and the roof of their mouth, although Sirenids only have them on the roof of their mouths.