Scientific Name | Click photo to enlarge. Photo by Jonathan Mays. |
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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 |
Click photos to enlarge. Photos courtesy of Bill Peterman. |
DISTRIBUTION
Unites States
Click map to enlarge. |
Park
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
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.