Description: Aneides lugubris is 2.6 to 3.9 inches SVL (snout-vent length), with plain purplish-brown coloring, usually spotted dorsally with gold or yellow, although it may also be unspotted. This salamander has longer and sharper teeth than many others within the group. The tail is prehensile. The juvenile is dark overall, clouded with greyish color and fine yellow speckling on the back. The male of this species can be distinguished by its broad triangular head, with the front teeth of the jaw extending beyond the bottom lip.

Habitat: They live in coastal oak woodlands and yellow pine and black oak forests.

Range: Arboreal salamanders live in the United States along the coast of California, from Humboldt County to the northern part of the Baja Peninsula. An inland population occurs in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Found in these States: CA

Diet: An arboreal salamander eats insects and terrestrial invertebrates, which it finds on the forest floor at night during wet weather. It catches its prey on its tongue and crushes it with powerful jaws and sharp teeth. An arboreal salamander may even eat another salamander if it’s small enough.

Reproduction: Arboreal salamanders breed in late spring to early summer. A female lays about 12 to 24 eggs at a time, usually in a moist log or tree cavity. The female broods the eggs, which hatch within three to four months. Unlike some other amphibians, these salamanders don’t undergo a larval stage. Newly hatched arboreal salamanders look just like miniature adults. On average, an arboreal salamander lives about five years.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution and presumed large population.

Taxonomy: