Big Levels Salamander (Plethodon sherando)
Description: The Big Levels salamander is a small salamander of the genus Plethodon within the Plethodon cinereus group (the red-backed salamander and closely related species). Physically, it is most similar to P. cinereus and P. serratus, which have gray and white (sometimes yellow) coloring on the underside of the body. Plethodon sherando has a greater amount of white pigmentation than gray. The back is red and gray, sometimes with stripes or spots. The legs are longer and the head slightly wider in P. sherando compared to P. cinereus.
The holotype is an adult male which measured 3.7 inches in total length and 1.7 inches from snout to vent.
Habitat: Its habitats include temperate forests and rocky areas. At the edge of its range, it was found to co-occur with Plethodon cinereus at lower elevations, but was the only species of small Plethodon at higher elevations. In a study published in 2016, P. sherando and P. cinereus occupied significantly different microhabitats, with P. sherando in habitats with warmer air temperature but cooler substrate temperatures and P. cinereus in habitats with higher relative humidity and cooler air temperatures.
Range: Plethodon sherando has a very small range only within a tiny portion of the central Blue Ridge Mountains in Augusta County, Virginia.
Found in these States:
VA
Diet: Small invertebrates are most likely its primary prey.
Reproduction: Mating occurs between November and March. Females lay 1 to 14 eggs in the late spring and remain with the clutch until they hatch in August or September
Status: Listed as Vulnerable because it is known from fewer than five locations.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Amphibia - (Amphibians)
»» Order: Caudata - Salamanders
»» Family: Plethodontidae - Lungless Salamanders
»» Subfamily: Plethodontinae
»» Genus: Plethodon
»» Species: Plethodon sherando - Big Levels Salamander
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Big Levels 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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