The mole salamander is a species of salamander found across much of the eastern and central United States, from Florida to Texas and north to Illinois, with isolated populations in Virginia and Indiana. It is stocky, with a short body and large head, measuring 4.5 to 10.9 centimeters and weighing 3.5 to 10.5 grams, colored gray or dark brown with darker mottling above and lighter gray below. It lives among leaf litter on the forest floor, especially in floodplain pine or broadleaf forest near gum and cypress ponds, migrating to those ponds to breed, while its larvae live in ponds and ephemeral, fish free water. Older sources called it the tadpole salamander because some individuals remain neotenic, keeping their larval form, rather than completing metamorphosis.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) System (Realm) Relationship to People Living or Extinct Scientific Name Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikipedia: Mole salamander
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Sources
1. GBIF Species API
2. Wikipedia: Mole salamander
WikipediaLead
The group has become famous due to the study of the axolotl (A. mexicanum) in research on paedomorphosis, and the tiger salamander (A. tigrinum, A. mavortium) which is often sold as a pet, and is the official amphibian of four US states.
Infobox: taxon
Ambystoma
View the Source 3. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
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