MINI BELIEVE IT OR NOT –

Spotted Salamanders are the only vertebrates capable of photosynthesis, creating oxygen from light-absorbing algae in their cells.

  • Spotted Salamanders lay their eggs in a thick jelly to stop them from drying out
  • This jelly stops oxygen from reaching the embryos
  • The embryos have a symbiotic relationship with a kind of algae
  • The algae produces oxygen from sunlight, and the embryos process it and produce carbon dioxide for the algae

MINI BION

“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.