Green Salamander

(Aneides aeneus)

Distribution of the Green Salamander (from the AR MI Atlas)

An adult Green Salamander.

Description: With its distinctive green and black mottling, the Green Salamander is difficult to confuse with any of Ohio’s other salamander species. Adult size is 3.5-6.25.” Other characteristics of the species include squared toe tips, a flattened body, and long legs.
Distribution in Ohio: Recorded only from Adams, Scioto, and Lawrence Counties in southeastern Ohio. All known Ohio populations are within seven miles of the Ohio River.
Status in Ohio: The Ohio Division of Wildlife lists the Green Salamander as ENDANGERED.
Habitat: Green Salamanders are found along and within limestone and sandstone (?) rock outcrops and occasionally on trees near these formations. They live within the rock crevices, coming out at night to forage on the rock face.
Life history: Courtship, breeding, and egg-laying all occur on the rock outcrops that this species is associated with. Eggs are attached to the roof of rock crevices in June and the female attends to them until hatching in late September. The larval stage is completed within the egg. Green Salamanders reach sexual maturity 2-3 years after hatching.
Conservation: The Green Salamander is perhaps the most habitat specific salamander in Ohio. Logging of forests around rock outcrops can detrimentally impact populations by increasing temperatures and evaporation, and altering their invertebrate prey base.

Last modified:
Thursday, May 05, 2005

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