
Lead-backed Salamander - Plethodon cinereus
It had a blackish brown body with speckles.
Plethodon cinereus exhibits 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. This spotting shows the lead-backed variety.
Habitat: Deciduous forest
*I rarely encounter the lead-backed color morph of this species, but I've observed that they are much more skittish than the red-backed variety.

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.
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