Northern Ravine Salamander (Plethodon electromorphus)
Description: The northern ravine salamander is a small terrestrial salamander, 3.0–4.5 inches in total length. It is elongated, slender, and short-legged. Its coloration is brown to nearly black, sprinkled with minute silvery white and bronzy or brassy specks. It has very small, irregular white blotches on the lower sides, and a virtually plain dark belly with a lightly mottled chin.
Habitat: The natural habitats of P. electromorphus are temperate forests and rocky areas.
Range: The northern ravine salamander has been found in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Diet: The Ravine salamander has a diet that consists mainly of small insects such as ants and beetles. They will also eat pill bugs, earthworms, spiders, and snails.
Reproduction: Eggs are deposited in the summer under rocks. The larval stage is completed within the egg. The eggs hatch in late summer or early fall and the juvenile salamanders remain underground until the following spring. Sexual maturity is reached at 2-3 years.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution and presumed large population.
Taxonomy: The northern ravine salamander was previously considered to be a part of Plethodon richmondi (southern ravine salamander). Electrophoresis, from which the specific name electromorphus is derived, was used to distinguish them.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Amphibia - (Amphibians)
»» Order: Caudata - Salamanders
»» Family: Plethodontidae - Lungless Salamanders
»» Genus: Plethodon
»» Species: Plethodon electromorphus - Northern Ravine Salamander
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Northern Ravine Salamander", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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