Promoted
Red-backed Salamander - Plethodon cinereus
This salamander had a blackish brown body with an orange stripe down the middle of its back. It was ~4 cm long.
Red-backed salamanders exhibit color polymorphism with two common color variations - the 'red-backed' variety has a red dorsal stripe that tapers towards the tail and the 'lead-backed' variety lacks most or all of the red pigmentation. The red-backed phase is not always red, but may actually be various other colors (yellow-backed, orange-backed, or white-backed).
Habitat: This salamander was all curled up on top of some gray mold that was growing on rotting wood in a mixed forest.
The red-backed salamander is a species of small, hardy woodland salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species inhabits wooded slopes in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to North Carolina, and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime provinces in Canada to Minnesota.
