Listen to this story here Audio Timeline Slider: Use the left or right arrow keys to decrease or increase the slider value. When Sal Cincotta stumbled upon a little, warty salamander emerging from a Massachusetts pond, it struck them as out of place. The little creature was about six inches long with granular, pinkish skin and a wide head. “I’ve lived in Massachusetts my whole life, and I’ve never seen anything like it before,” says Cincotta.