Red-backed Salamander

Date Found: April 6, 2011

Common Name: Red-backed Salamander

Scientific Name: Plethodon cinereus

Found: This salamander was in the same place as the Black Salamander. In the back yard under a wet log and leaves that were left from Fall.

FUN FACTS:

This salamander grows to about five inches long.

Red-backed Salamanders lay their eggs in a cluster, like grapes, hanging underneath a rock or inside an old log. They are born looking like mini-salamanders, about an inch long.

Like the Black Salamander, the Red-backed Salamander has no lungs and breathes through its skin which must remain wet or moist at all times. It comes out after it rains to hunt for its food. They eat arthropods (animals with exoskeletons, jointed legs, and segmented bodies).

Salamanders help plants when they tunnel through the dirt, because it breaks up and mixes up the soil which allows the plants to get the nutrients easier.

Black Salamander

Date Found: April 6, 2011

Common Name: Black Salamander

Scientific Name: Aneides flavipunctatus

Found: Under a piece of wood that was lying on the ground on top of wet leaves and mud.

FUN FACTS:

This salamander has no lungs. It breathes through its skin, and the tissues lining their mouths. They must keep these surfaces moist in order to respire, and so have to live in damp environments, such as beneath logs, in caves or in wet rock crevices, and only venture out in humid weather.

The Black Salamander lays its eggs on land. The babies are hatched full grown. They eat earthworms, slugs, snails, spiders and a variety of insects. They are nocturnal and hunt at night. In captivity, they can be fed crickets, earthworms and mealworms. They have 3 toes on the front feet and 4 toes on the back feet.

Be careful to wash hands before and after handling amphibians as they sometimes secrete poisons through their skin. It isn't poisonous to touch.