This lungless salamander attains adult sizes of four to just over six inches. Most of this length is "tail," because it accounts for much more than half the total length. The longtail salamander is nocturnal, although it may be seen moving about during the day following a heavy rainfall. The descriptive common name provides a clue to identifying this colorful amphibian.
Much longer than the body, the tail is slender but continues the coloration and pattern that begin on the head. This salamander is yellow to bright red-orange and is marked with contrasting black spots. The spots are heavier on the sides than they are across the back, and on the tail the spots may combine to form vertical bars. The salamander has 13 or 14 costal grooves. The longtail salamander is a statewide resident except for the small area of the Commonwealth that drains into Lake Erie.
There have been no reported sightings of the longtail salamander from Pennsylvania's 42 miles of Lake Erie shoreline or the inland Lake Erie Plain. Its range includes southern New York to northern Alabama and west to the southern tip of Illinois.
This amphibian is known to inhabit caves and abandoned mine tunnels, but more often is at home near small streams, seeps and springs. The longtail salamander waits for nightfall, hidden under rotting logs, stones and streamside boulders. It is also known to reside in banks of shale that overlook a watery environment, where it darts among the numerous cracks and crannies in search of food. The longtail salamander locates a mate to begin courtship from mid-autumn to early spring.
Breeding occurs in or near the water sometime between October and March when the female lays up to nearly eggs. The eggs may be deposited directly in shallow water, or sometimes near the water's edge under stones or in small openings in the ground. The eggs produce aquatic larvae in six to eight weeks and transformation follows after four to as much as seven months. The longtail salamander is sexually mature at one to two years of age. Most of its hunting is done at night when this agile salamander preys on resident invertebrates.
It especially likes to spend evenings during a warm rain looking for a meal that could include grubs and any number of insects. Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus. The northern spring salamander is the largest of several lungless salamanders that occur in Pennsylvania. It is sturdily built and nimble. This amphibian is at least partly nocturnal. The basic coloration of the northern spring salamander is salmon although variations occur through tints of reddish brown, yellowish brown or light orange.
The back and sides sometimes have markings, and even then are often nearly obscured, appearing as a very subdued mottling. These spots also are scattered about the throat. A light line edged with black begins at the eye and extends downward to the nostril and can help identify this colorful creature.
There are 17 to 19 costal grooves. The northern spring salamander extends from most of New England southwestward to Alabama. It is found statewide except for portions of the extreme southeast. It apparently has not made its presence known at least in Philadelphia County and parts of Delaware, Chester, Bucks and Montgomery counties.
As could be expected, the northern spring salamander is found in and along areas where water suddenly springs from the earth, but it also lives along fast-moving streams and even in wet caves.
Mountain streams of the type that might hold wild brook trout could also contain populations of this amphibian. However, moving water appears not to be a strict requirement because it also is found in wet depressions beneath logs or stones.
Forested areas seem to be a favorite. The northern spring salamander may begin its elaborate courtship ritual in which the male rubs and prods the female anytime between June and November.
The eggs are deposited in the water one at a time and are attached to the underside of stones on the stream bottom. Cool water is preferred. The eggs hatch sometime from April to July and the larvae measure less than one inch. Two to three years pass before transformation takes place and by then the salamander may be four inches long. This amphibian feeds on a broad spectrum of insect life and other invertebrates common to its habitat.
Other salamanders even fall prey to a hungry northern spring salamander. Heavy rain on a warm summer evening might cause this critter to wander away from its usual aquatic haunts in search of a meal. Hemidactylium scutatum. The four-toed salamander is a secretive amphibian in its adult terrestrial life as well as during its aquatic larval stage. It has a novel defensive mechanism that enables it to flee from an attacker, with some sacrifice.
If grabbed by a predator, the tail easily breaks from the body, the four-toed salamander slips away, and the hunter is left holding the small, twitching appendage. After escaping to a safe retreat, this delicate creature bides its time, waiting for a new tail to be regenerated. There are two distinguishing characteristics that help identify the four-toed salamander. One is the basis for its common name; only four toes appear on each hind foot, where most other salamanders have five toes.
The other important and distinctive feature is the belly. It is marked with large, bold, black spots that stand out predominately against an almost pure white. The back of the four-toed salamander is reddish brown to yellowish tan; its sides tend to be gray. The thick tail is marked near its base with a constrictive ring, indicating the point at which it would separate.
The number of costal grooves varies from 12 to Although scattered populations occur in many states, the basic range of this salamander extends from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin and south to Alabama.
The four-toed salamander may range statewide in Pennsylvania although its numbers are spotty. The sparse population of this interesting creature no doubt reflects its special habitat requirements. It prefers boggy areas with an abundance of sphagnum mosses, and in Pennsylvania that somewhat restricts its range.
Leaf litter in damp, forested areas might also be acceptable habitat, but a woodland pond would have to be close by. This small amphibian, with its special needs, has quickly felt the negative impact of agriculture and expanding urbanization.
Four toes on the hind feet help tell the four-toed salamander from most others. Courtship and mating occur in late summer to fall. An average of 50 eggs are laid the following April or May. Fertilization is internal after the female has picked up the male's spermatophore. The eggs of the four-toed salamander are deposited individually, not in clusters as they are by many other salamanders.
Once laid, however, they may stick together in clusters. The eggs are allowed to settle among the thick, greenish mats of moss or are attached to other plants.
Usually, the eggs are laid in a small cavity but always above and near the water's edge. The female protects the nest and eggs until they hatch in 52 to 60 days. The inch-long larvae, sporting large, bushy gills, quickly enter the water. Transformation takes place six to eight weeks later when they leave the water to begin their adult life on land.
The four-toed salamander feeds on a variety of small insects and other invertebrates. An easy source of food is usually available within its range. Plethodon cinereus.
This completely terrestrial salamander occurs in three different color phases; they are described later. Other than in color, however, they are identical. The redback or "lead-backed" salamander is probably observed more frequently than any of the other salamanders within its range. This lungless salamander is long and slender. The redback is marked with a broad stripe that begins at the head and flows down the back and over the upper part of the tail, where the stripe shrinks in width.
The stripe is usually red, although it sometimes may appear orangish, yellow, pink or light gray. The sides of the redback salamander are black, and this color extends upward to form a straight-edged border on each side of the stripe.
The lead-backed color phase ranges from a light gray to almost black. The solid color is shaded uniformly and it does not have the colorful stripe along the back.
A third color phase is found only occasionally. Marked with an unusual redness, it is referred to as an erythristic phase.
The entire body, except for the belly, is red. Regardless of the color phase the belly is always mottled in a distinctive pattern of black and white. Costal grooves vary a bit through this salamander's range and could number from 18 to 20 depending on the area. The redback salamander inhabits a large chunk of the northeastern United States, extending west to Minnesota and into Quebec.
This amphibian is found statewide in Pennsylvania and could show up in places far from water. It favors cool, moist forests that could include timber stands of hardwoods or conifers or a combination of the two. The redback salamander is fond of hiding under stones, old logs and other objects where it remains sheltered during the daytime hours. In dry weather, this amphibian seeks even more protection by burrowing underground and only emerges after a rainfall.
Beneath ground level is also where it seeks relief from the strongest winters. An unusually warm spell during the winter could bring the redback salamander temporarily from the protection of its den. The various color phases could establish residence in the same habitat, although one phase may predominate. In some areas, the entire population may be made up of all-red specimens. The redback salamander mates from October through April following the rituals of courtship common to the lungless salamanders.
By June or July, the female, which lays eggs only every other year, selects a site in which six to 12 eggs are deposited. Formed in a cluster, the eggs hang from the "ceiling" of a cavity that is likely a depression dug out directly beneath a stone or other stable, relatively flat object See Figure II Sometimes, forsaking the protection of a sheltered cavity, a decaying log may be used as a nesting site.
The eggs take about two months to hatch, during which time the female, her body often curled protectively around them, waits for the inch-long juveniles to emerge. There is no aquatic larval stage, and the juvenile redback salamander is a replica in miniature of the adult. Two years pass before maturity is reached. The redback salamander is a nighttime forager.
Leaving its favorite hideaway where it spent the daylight hours, the redback salamander prowls among the leafy debris of its forest home for very small invertebrates. Minute insects and their larvae are the mainstay of this amphibian's diet.
A cluster of eggs deposited by a redback salamander clings from the overhang of a cavity. Plethodon glutinosus glutinosus. The slimy salamander is a medium-sized creature of the forest and considered one of the woodland salamanders. Adult sizes range from barely five to nearly seven inches.
This amphibian has skin glands that secrete a thick, gluey substance. Extremely sticky, it is very difficult to remove. In the event it gets on your skin, it probably will have to wear off. The slimy salamander wanders about mostly at night, spending its days in hiding.
The slimy salamander is black, sporting a shiny coat that is marked with whitish or silver-colored spots. The spots are larger on the sides, smaller and scattered over the back and tail. The belly is slate-colored and unmarked. The chin and throat areas are dark gray. There are 16 costal grooves. The slimy salamander resides along the entire eastern seaboard from New York to central Florida.
It ranges as far west as Missouri and Oklahoma. In Pennsylvania, this member of the lungless salamander family is indigenous to the entire state. Its favorite habitat consists of deep, moist and shaded ravines.
Wooded slopes and banks of shale also offer refuge, and it is common to find the slimy salamander beneath large, flat rocks or rotting logs. During the hottest days of summer and in dry weather, it finds a cool retreat beneath a pile of damp leaves. The slimy salamander remains active until autumn's subfreezing temperatures force it to find shelter for the winter. It is among the first salamanders to appear at or near the surface in early spring.
The slimy salamander can mate in spring or fall. The eggs, numbering from less than 10 to as many as 40, are laid in late spring. The egg masses are deposited deep beneath the ground or under a fallen tree that is well-rotted.
The female protects the eggs during the incubation period, which extends until late summer. The slimy salamander does not have a free-living larval stage and the newly hatched juveniles are tiny duplicates of the adults. Foraging is done at night over the forest floor where the slimy salamander seeks worms and insects. It especially likes to wander about following a rain when its prey is perhaps more readily available. Plethodon wehrlei. This salamander is named for R.
Wehrle, who, while residing in Indiana, Pennsylvania, collected specimens that eventually allowed this amphibian to be described as a distinct species. The Wehrle's salamander ranges in length from four to just over five inches as an adult. The body of the Wehrle's salamander is bluish gray to dark brown or almost black. Irregular spots, often looking more like dash marks, appear on the sides.
They are white or bluish white in most cases, but sometimes can appear yellowish. The back occasionally is marked with very small flecks of a lighter color. The belly and the underside of the tail are evenly tinted in gray. The throat is white or at least blotched with white. Costal grooves along each side number about Wehrle's salamander inhabits an area extending from southwestern New York to Virginia and North Carolina.
In Pennsylvania, Wehrle's salamander inhabits a little less than one-third of the state. This area generally includes the Allegheny Mountains as they range from the southwestern corner to the north central. Wehrle's salamander prefers woodlands of beech, sugar maple and eastern hemlock, the official state tree. Stands of sugar maple are found in at least a portion of its range encompassing a section of Somerset County.
Second-growth timber attracts this salamander, which tends to confine itself to unglaciated uplands. It takes refuge in deep crevices and hides under large, flat rocks and decaying timber scattered prone throughout the forest. Detailed information about the breeding habits of Wehrle's salamander are lacking, although it is thought to breed during the milder winter months.
The female deposits about 12 eggs, usually selecting a site that is inaccessible to all but her. The eggs are protected by the female through the incubation period and until they hatch. This amphibian is mature at four to five years of age. Like others of its genus, Wehrle's salamander feeds on invertebrates.
It prefers spiders, centipedes and the larvae of insects. Pseudotriton ruber ruber. The northern red salamander is medium-sized and another of the lungless salamanders. It is found only in the eastern portion of North America. For the most part, this amphibian remains true to its name — red is the primary body color. Even so, variations occur and it can be reddish brown to orange-brown. A female from Vigo County, Indiana, was found brooding 34 eggs Rubin, Twenty-three gravid females from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, contained from 13—25 eggs while ten females from Frederick County, Maryland, contained from 16—34 eggs Highton, b.
Females from New York contained from 17—38 eggs Bishop, b. Thirty-two hatchlings from Parke County, Indiana, ranged in size from Brood sites - A West Virginia female was found brooding a clutch inside a rotting stump Fowler, A female from Vigo County, Indiana, was found brooding a clutch inside a rotting log, while two females with recently hatched young were found beneath rocks in Parke County, Indiana Rubin, Adult Habitat - Northern Slimy Salamanders are 8—12 times denser in mature hardwood forests than in young pine monocultures Bennett et al.
In New York, Bishop b reports Northern Slimy Salamanders as commonly being found beneath logs and stones in woods, in the crevices of shale banks, and along the sides of gullies and Ravines. He also reports them from under moist humus and leaf mold or in manure piles. Northern Slimy Salamanders in Cleburne County, Alabama, are found beneath logs, rocks and occasionally beneath leaf litter Rubenstein, Territories - Northern Slimy Salamanders and members of their complex aggressively defend territories Thurow, Seasonal Migrations - Undocumented, but animals likely move from forest floor sites to underground sites in response to seasonally related dry and cold conditions.
Torpor Hibernation - Bishop b reports finding Northern Slimy Salamanders far below the surface during the winter. Cumberland Plateau Salamanders were appeasers and intruders significantly more often than Northern Slimy Salamanders Bailey, Cumberland Plateau Salamanders show an increase in territorial behavior relative to shelter availability and population density when involved in interactions with Northern Slimy Salamanders Marvin, Male green Salamanders Aneides aeneus exhibit aggressive behavior towards northern slimy Salamanders Canterbury and Pauley, Other interactions between these two salamanders likely include competition for space, nesting sites, and food Bailey, ; Marvin, Green Salamanders are found frequently to occupy higher crevices in rock faces than are Northern Slimy Salamanders Baltar, ; Cliburn and Porter, ; Waldron, This stratification may be due to superior climbing abilities of Green Salamanders Cliburn and Porter, or to competition Canterbury and Pauley, Juvenile Northern Slimy Salamanders and juvenile Eastern Red-backed Salamanders Plethodon cinereus compete reciprocally when resources are limiting.
Interactions between adults are more obscure, but Northern Slimy Salamanders may have reduced growth when Eastern Red-backed Salamanders are present. In competition between these two species for territories, it appears that body size is the primary factor dictating territory ownership Price and Shield, Northern Slimy Salamanders are found occasionally with northern zigzag Salamanders P.
Northern Slimy Salamanders were found with southern zigzag Salamanders P. A probable F1 hybrid was found at this location Highton and Peabody, At one site in Polk County, Tennessee, they occur sympatrically and probably do not hybridize. Bussone, C. Ewart, I. Kaplan, K. Kiefer, S. Lindsay, E. Merrill, W. Moretz, J. Roberts, E. Reott, J. Willson, A. They live under leaf litter and logs. They may come to the surface to hunt when it rains. They are nocturnal. Adults overwinter underground.
Northern slimy salamanders are believed to breed in the spring and again in the fall.
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