Summary ⁶

The red salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family. It is endemic to the United States. Its skin is orange/red in color with random black spots.

Distribution and habitat ⁷

Pseudotriton ruber ranges from New York in the north to the gulf coast, and reaches as far west as Louisiana. The species may be found at elevations between sea level and 1500 meters (Petranka 1998).

Adults are found under surface cover in forests, meadows, and pasturelands, or in burrows alongside streams. They often spend late fall and winter in and around small streams, seepages, and bogs, which are also used for breeding (Petranka 1998).

Conservation status ⁸

Because Pseudotriton ruber requires intact deciduous forests and clean streams, this species can be severly impacted by deforestation, pollution, acid drainage from coal mines, and stream siltation and warming (Harding, 1997).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Brian Gratwicke, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/19731486@N07/3470286747
2. (c) 2009 Henk Wallays, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=271181&one=T
3. (c) 2010 Todd Pierson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=327336&one=T
4. (c) 2010 Todd Pierson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=341037&one=T
5. (c) 2010 Todd Pierson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=341048&one=T
6. Adapted by Marie Studer from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudotriton_ruber
7. (c) AmphibiaWeb © 2000-2011 The Regents of the University of California, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/24045041
8. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/18669293

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• AMNH Amphibian Species of the World
• AmphibiaWeb
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• VertNet

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