Spectacled Salamander

The spectacled salamander is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae, found in the southern Apennine Range of Italy in humid valleys and shady, overgrown hillsides at altitudes between 200 and 1,200 meters. It has only four toes on its hind feet, unlike the five typical of other salamanders and newts, a warty brownish-black back with a ribbed appearance on the flanks, and a creamy white V-shaped marking between its eyes, with black and white underside patterning and pinkish-red coloring on its legs and tail. Its range borders that of its sister species Salamandrina perspicillata to the north, and it is considered an important indicator species of environmental health, with a conservation status of Least Concern.