 Many woodland salamanders lay clutches of eggs under dead logs or stones on land . The black mountain salamander ( Desmognathus <unk> ) does this , the mother brooding the eggs and guarding them from predation as the embryos feed on the yolks of their eggs . When fully developed , they break their way out of the egg capsules and disperse as juvenile salamanders . The male hellbender , a primitive salamander , excavates an underwater nest and encourages females to lay there . The male then guards the site for the two or three months before the eggs hatch , using body undulations to fan the eggs and increase their supply of oxygen . 
