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Scientific Name Green salamander photo.
Click photo to enlarge.
Photo by Jonathan Mays.
Aneides aeneus (Cope and Packard) - ATBI Database: Specimen Records
Common Name
Green salamander
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Chordata Amphibia Caudata Plethodontidae
Animals Chordates Amphibians Salamanders Lungless salamanders

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Type: Semi-aquatic salamander.
Elevation Range: Below 800 m.
Adult Total Length: Unknown
Adult characteristics: Flattend body with squared toe tips. Dorsal yellow to green linear splothes on dark grayish matrix. Light colored belly.

All lungless salamanders have a nasolabial groove that extends from each nostril to the upper jaw. The nasolabial groove transmits chemicals to the salamander from the substrate; no other salamander family has this groove.

Similar species

None.

Photographs

Head Lateral Eggs
Green salamander photo.
Green salamander photo. Green salamander photo.
Click photos to enlarge.
Photos courtesy of Bill Peterman.

DISTRIBUTION

Unites States

ARMI National Atlas for Amphibians Distributions
Click map to enlarge.
 

Park

ATBI Database: Specimen Records Map.
Click map for current locations.
 

NATURAL HISTORY

Habitat

Aneides aeneus is a crevice-dwelling species, but it is no longer thought to be present in the Park.

Cold, heat, and drought generally keep salamanders under cover, conversely heavy rains and high humidity tend to bring them to the surface. They often leave cover when the soil is moist or at night, when they forage.

Reproduction

The eggs of some terrestrial species have never been seen, and nests have rarely been located. Breeding females disappear underground to brood eggs and thus are undetectable.

Longevity

Plethodontids may be long-lived (5-10 years).

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Special Protection Status

Rangewide

N/A

In Park

Picking, digging, or otherwise damaging plants is prohibited in the Park. Collection is allowed only by special permit for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Maps

United States: ARMI National Atlas for Amphibians Distributions. 2004. http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/armiatlas/index.cfm. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD 20708-4039.

Park: Discover Life in America - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. 2007. The ATBI Database. http://tremont22.campus.utk.edu/ATBI_start.cfm, Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.

Photographs

National Park Service photo by Jonathan Mays. Photos courtesy of Bill Peterman

Text

Charles Wilder, 2007.

Web page

Charles Wilder.

REFERENCES

Dodd, C. Kenneth. 2003. Monitoring Amphibians in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. U.S. Geological Survey circular; 1258.

Dodd, C. Kenneth. 2004. The Amphibians of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tilley, S. G., Huheey, J. E., 2001. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains Association. Gatlinburg, Tennessee.