Stats

Lifespan

12-15 yrs

Size

Large

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Nocturnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

North America

Movement

Burrowing

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

Western Tiger Salamanders are small, nocturnal, and solitary salamanders that live in moist, forested areas. They have a distinctive black-and-yellow stripe that runs along their back.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2. 2.
   tadpole

   A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Caudata

Family

Ambystomatidae

Genus

Ambystoma

Species

Ambystoma mavortium