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Glite Dictionary
lungless salamander

lungless salamander

8.5
A salamander without lungs that breathes through its skin and the inside of its mouth
  • noun
  • /ˈlʌŋləs ˈsæləmændər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : salamandra sin pulmones
  • The lungless salamander relies on its skin to absorb oxygen, as it has no lungs.

Examples

  • I was, I have to admit, slightly skeptical, so I did a second search by picking up the scientific name of one of the lungless salamanders (Batrachoseps) and doing a search for it:

    Blog text (17)

  • Now that I had a lungless salamander, I did the next obvious search:

    Blog text (17)

  • And quickly found the lungless salamander link on Wikipedia.

    Blog text (17)

  • Many species of lungless salamander can be found in moist forest habitats, where they thrive.

  • Researchers study the lungless salamander to understand how it breathes through its skin.

Synonyms

plethodont
vslungless salamander
  • Specialized
9.9

A land salamander without lungs that breathes through its moist skin

refers to family members that lack lungs and breathe through skin or mouth lining

Surface Forms

lungless salamander singular
lungless salamanders plural

Morphology

lungless + salamander

The phrase is fully compositional: 'lungless' means lacking lungs and 'salamander' names the amphibian, so together they denote a salamander without lungs that breathes through its skin/mouth. This follows regular '-less' morphology and simple noun modification patterns that are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand the meaning.

Etymology

Lungless salamander: The name lungless salamander comes from a simple fact: it is literally lungless, so the salamander has 'no lungs'. It breathes through its skin and the lining of its mouth, so the name explains how it lives.