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Small-Mouthed Salamander Range Map






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Home »» Salamanders & Newts »» Salamandridae (Newts) »» Small-Mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)


Small-Mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)STATUS





Description: The small-mouth salamander grows from 4.5 to 7.0 in. It is typically black or dark brown in color with light-grey or silvery-colored flecking, or grey blotching. It has a fairly small head, relative to its body, and a long tail. Males are typically smaller than females. Their bellies are black, often with tiny flecks, and have 14 to 15 costal grooves.


Habitat: Small-mouth salamanders live in moist pine woodlands and deciduous forest bottomlands, tallgrass prairies, farming areas, near temporary ponds, and along streams.


Range: Their range is from western West Virginia south to the Gulf of Mexico, west to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.


Found in these States: AL | AR | IA | IL | IN | KS | KY | LA | MI | MO | MS | NE | OH | OK | TN | TX | WV


Diet: Their diets include insects, slugs, and earthworms.


Reproduction: Breeding occurs in the spring, with groups of salamanders congregating near the water. Females can lay up to 700 eggs, which they attach in small clumps of up to 30 eggs at a time, to rocks or vegetation under the water. Larvae hatch at 0.5 inch; they metamorphose in May to June at about 1.6 inches.


Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large extent of occurrence, large number of sub-populations and locations, large population size and use of a wide range of habitats.


Taxonomy:

»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
   »» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
     »» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
       »» Class: Amphibia - (Amphibians)
         »» Order: Caudata - Salamanders
               »» Family: Salamandridae - Newts
                 »» Subfamily: Pleurodelinae - Pleurodeline Newts
                   »» Genus: Ambystoma
                     »» Species: Ambystoma texanum - Small-Mouthed Salamander

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Small-Mouthed 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.

 

 

 

 


Recommended Books at Amazon.com


Handbook of Salamanders: The Salamanders of the United States, of Canada, and of Lower California     Peterson Field Guide To Western Reptiles & Amphibians     Amphibian     Salamanders of the United States and Canada



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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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