Red-backed Salamander - Plethodon cinereus
This salamander had a brown body with a reddish stripe down the middle of its back. It was ~6 cm long. This species doesn't seem to like being handled at all, in my experience, so I admire them from a distance.
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: Under 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.
