Description: The four-toed salamander can be recognized by its white underbelly sprinkled with black dots. Its back varies from orange-brownish to red-brownish; its flanks are grayish. The body and the limbs are elongated. The snout is short, and the eyes are prominent. The tail color is usually brighter than the back, and you can observe a constriction at the body/tail junction. The posterior limbs have four toes (hence its name), a good identification criterion but hard to use in the field. This species rarely exceeds 3.9 inches in length. In the breading season (late October to early December) males have enlarged premaxillary teeth and truncated squarish snouts, which are round in females. The juveniles show a tail shorter than the body.
The four-toed salamander can be easily mistaken for the redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in the wild. The redback salamander's underbelly has more numerous black markings. Unlike the four-toed salamander, the redback salamander has no constriction at the tail base, and its posterior limbs show five digits.
Habitat: This species' favored habitats are sphagnum bogs, grassy areas surrounding beaver ponds, and deciduous or mixed forests rich with mosses. The four-toed salamander will use the sphagnum bogs during reproduction, but uses the forest habitat during the summer. It overwinters in terrestrial habitat, using old burrows or cavities created by rotting roots, below the freezing depth. It will frequently overwinter in groups, sometimes with other amphibians such as the red-backed salamander.
Range: This species is discontinuously distributed in the USA and Canada from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec, southern Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to southeastern Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida panhandle, and Georgia. Its distribution is fairly continuous in the northeastern part of the range, while spotty in the southwestern part.
Diet: Four-toed salamanders feed mostly on small invertebrates, such as spiders, worms, ticks, springtails (collembola), ground beetles (Carabidae), and other insects. Larvae love small aquatic crustaceans.
Reproduction: Mating occurs in terrestrial areas throughout the autumn months. In early spring the females nest on land, along the banks of small ponds. After the 4 to 6 week embryonic period, the larvae hatch and make their way to the adjacent pond. Four-toed salamanders undergo a relatively short aquatic larval period, when compared to other species of the same family, ranging between 3 and 6 weeks.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution and number of subpopulations, presumed large population size, and remaining suitable habitat across its range.
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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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