Salamanders do not hibernate as they do not have the required mechanisms found in warm blooded animals to support the process. Instead they retreat as functions slow down and body temperature takes on that of the immediate environment. In prolonged sub-zero weather some will freeze as they do not seek a warmer environment. They also have the amazing ability to shed their tails and grow them back, as well as regenerate other damaged or severed parts of their body. Salamanders swim like eels, using body muscle contraction to propel themselves through the water.
Salamanders use their limbs very little in swimming.
On land, the limbs give considerable propulsion to the body, and several salamander gaits have been described. They walk one leg at a time in a diagonal pattern. The limbs are sprawled out from the body, and the middle of the trunk usually rests on the ground. The Plethodon in the Introduction title picture is a good example of this feature. Internally, salamanders have a three-chambered heart and respiratory systems typically involving gills in the larvae stage and lungs in the adults.