Description: Adult, terrestrial tiger salamanders grow to as much as 13.6 inches total length and 6.5 inches snout-vent length. They exhibit varying combinations of dorsal light and dark spots, bars, or reticulation. The Arizona tiger salamander (A. m. nebulosum), known from the Mogollon Rim area and the Colorado Plateau, is typically a dark grayish to olive salamander with irregularly-shaped yellow to olive spots and blotches. The barred tiger salamander (A. m. mavortium) has large, distinct yellowish bars or spots on a dark background. The Sonoran tiger salamander (A. m. stebbinsi), an endangered subspecies from the San Rafael Valley, possesses a unique reticulate pattern on a dark background, but many are indistinguishable from the barred salamander. Larvae and gilled adults, called branchiates or neotenes, are aquatic, olive-gray, and possess three gills on each side of the head. Early in development, larval salamanders lack legs. Arizona and barred branchiate salamanders, and very rarely, Sonoran tiger branchiates, may develop into large (up to 15 inches total length), big-headed, cannibalistic morphs.
Habitat: Habitat is diverse - it includes bottom land deciduous forests, coniferous forests and woodlands, open fields and bushy areas, alpine and subalpine meadow, grasslands, semideserts and deserts, and (rarely) in streams. Sandy or friable soils make for good breeding ground.
Range: They are found from central Colorado and New Mexico westward to Utah and Arizona.
Diet: Larvae and branchiates feed on a wide variety of invertebrates. Cannabilistic morphs eat larger prey and may preferentially eat their own kind. Terrestrial adults feed on a variety of surface and subterranean invertebrates. Adults and large larvae will eat vertebrates, as well, including tadpoles, lizards, small snakes, and mice.
Reproduction: Breeding occurs from mid-winter into late spring; and rarely in late summer. Terrestrial adults typically return to their natal ponds to breed. Females lay 200-2,000 eggs individually or in small groups attached to sticks, aquatic vegetation, debris, or on the substrate. Eggs take 14-50 days to hatch, depending on water temperature. Larvae can metamorphose in as little as 2 months, but growth varies with a number of factors. The larval period is typically longer than 2 months, and some overwinter.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large extent of occurrence, large number of subpopulations and localities, large population size and use of a wide range of habitats.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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