Stats

Lifespan: 10-20 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Nocturnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Limestone cave
Range: Eastern North America
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

A slender, orange-red salamander with black speckling, named for its habit of dwelling near cave entrances and twilight zones where it hunts cave crickets and other invertebrates. Despite the name, it also lives in damp forest ravines and spring seeps far from any cave.

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.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Plethodontidae
Genus: Eurycea
Species: Eurycea lucifuga