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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
tiger
salamander, mole salamander |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Amphibia |
| ORDER: |
Caudata |
| FAMILY: |
Ambystomatidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Ambystoma
tigrinum |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
These
are large, dark bodied salamanders with light yellow-gold
markings extending down their sides. The gray tiger
salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum diaboli),
a subspecies, has a dark green to gray body speckled
with tiny black dots. |
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| SIZE: |
15-20
cm (6-8 in.), with some specimens reaching a length
of 30 cm (12 in.) or more |
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| WEIGHT: |
Average
weight is approximately 126 g (4.4 oz.) |
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| DIET: |
Feed
on invertebrates and small vertebrates |
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| INCUBATION: |
Hatching occurs after approximately 4 weeks. |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
A
female may deposit one or more egg masses, containing
25-50 eggs per mass. |
| LARVAL
DURATION |
Typically,
tiger salamander larvae feed and grow during the
spring and early summer and metamorphose 2-5 months
after hatching. |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
4-5 years |
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| RANGE: |
Tiger
salamanders inhabit a wide range of areas extending
from coast to coast across the United States and
into Canada, and from central Nebraska to northeastern
Mexico. They are distributed throughout Texas except
for the eastern quarter. |
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| HABITAT: |
They
can be found near water in forests, and in prairie
areas where there is adequate moisture. The tiger
salamander spends most of the year underground. |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Ambystoma
tigrinum stebbinsi listed as Endangered |
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| 1. |
Salamanders
do not have fracture zones in their tails as some
lizards do, but are able to regenerate entire limbs.
Regenerated parts are usually distinguishable by
the lack of characteristic pigmentation. |
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| 2. |
Some small species of salamanders are lack lungs.
If they have lungs, as the tiger salamander does,
they pump air in and out by gular pumping (lowering
and raising the floor of the mouth). |
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| 3. |
Typically,
tiger salamander larvae feed and grow during the
spring and early summer and metamorphose 2-5 months
after hatching. However, some populations never
metamorphose. In areas where the environments
surrounding permanent ponds are dry and inhospitable,
they may retain certain larval characteristics
that allow them to live underwater. These salamanders
mature in the water and are able to reproduce,
though they maintain the body of an immature salamander
- a phenomenon called neoteny. Should environmental
conditions improve, they may metamorphose into
a terrestrial adult.
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These
large salamanders are meals for many animals such
as snakes, turtles, birds, and fish. They may
predate on insects, earthworms, small mammals,
and even other amphibians.
Amphibians
have porous skin and respond quickly to changes
in the environment. The health of their populations
can be an indicator of the health of the environment.
Recent
surveys have identified about only 90 tiger salamander
breeding ponds in New York. Its status at these
remaining sites is tenuous because of pesticides
and other contaminants, threat of development,
and other land use patterns. Pond disturbance,
predatory fish introduction, and expanding bullfrog
populations threaten annual reproduction. Increased
road construction has also divided the habitat,
jeopardizing migrating adults.
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|
|
Beringer and Johnson. 1995. Herpetological Review.
26(2):98. |
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Duellman and Trueb. Biology of the Amphibians.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1986. |
|
|
Halliday, Tim R. and Kraig Adler (eds.). The
Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. New
York: Facts on File, 1987.
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|
| Stebins
and Cohen. A Natural History of Amphibians.
1995. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey. |
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| www.caudata.org |
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| http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/endspec/tisafs.html |
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