A July edition of Discover Magazine article (based on an excerpt from a recent book "Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge") states that salamanders can perceive numbers. Intrigued, and without access to the book's references, I searched the Internet and found two articles: "Foraging Tactics of a Terrestrial Salamander: Assessing Prey Density" and "Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) go for more: rudiments of number in an amphibian". "Foraging Tactics of a Terrestrial Salamander: Assessing Prey Density" found that red-backed salamanders (red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, were used in both studies) were using information gained during prey encounters more than information gained during prey capture and therefore, perhaps, were "counting" prey. The other article "Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) go for more: rudiments of number in an amphibian" by Claudia Uller, Institute of Cognitive Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, went a step further. Conducted by presenting salamanders with test tubes filled filled with increasing numbers of flies from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 3 to 4, etc, the salamanders had similar results to tests given (of course, with something other than fruit flies) to non-verbal infants and nonhuman primates. Salamanders, like the non-verbal infants and nonhuman primates choose the test tubes with greater numbers of flies up until the test tubes contained more than 3 flies.

The definition of the word "count" is to "determine the number or amount of". The studies show the capacity within salamanders to have, as the Uller paper states, "numerical discrimination" or the ability to perceive"more". If a salamander can perceive "more", which is a determination of at least two amounts, then can't it be said that they can count.