Stats

Lifespan: 10-25 yrs
Size: Small
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Walking
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

One of the most abundant vertebrates in eastern North American forests, this lungless salamander breathes entirely through its moist skin. Its two colour morphs — a vivid red-striped form and an all-grey 'lead-back' — can coexist in the same population.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2.
tadpole
A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3.
juvenile
A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4.
adult
Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Plethodontidae
Genus: Plethodon
Species: Plethodon cinereus