Shenandoah salamander

Dark brown to black body with a red or bronze stripe down the back, which may be straight-edged or have a saw-toothed pattern. The stripe may be prominent or faint. Their belly is typically dark with white speckling.

Roughly 2.5 inches to 4 inches (7 to 10 centimeters).

Shenandoah salamanders are found on relatively dry, steep slopes with hardwood trees, where they live in moist soil pockets and rocks. The animal retreats deeper underground when conditions aboveground become too hot and dry in the summer or too cold in the winter.

Up to around 25 years. 

Not much is known about how this species communicates, but their bodies feature several different glands that are likely used to send chemical signals, particularly during breeding season.

Hunting at night, the Shenandoah salamander eats mites, flies, small beetles, springtails, and other small soil-dwelling invertebrates.

This species is primarily nocturnal, spending the daytime hiding beneath objects such as rocks and logs. 

This species is generally solitary, but they will defend small territories from members of their own species or the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) which competes for food and space.

Females lay an average of around 13 eggs in damp logs, moss, or moist crevices every other year in late spring or early summer. This species does not have an aquatic larval stage. Instead, hatchlings emerge as miniature adults after a period of one to three months developing inside the egg. Mother salamanders guard their eggs while their young are developing and will stop eating to remain by their side.

The Shenandoah salamander is vulnerable to extinction by virtue of its extremely restricted range, and its population is also experiencing numerous different threats. 

Climate change is warming and drying out the salamander’s mountain habitat, squeezing it to higher elevations as temperatures rise. Invasive gypsy moths and wooly adelgids also kill trees and reduce canopy cover in the salamander’s forest habitat. 

The Shenandoah salamander also has a native competitor for resources in its preferred habitats: the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus). 

The species’ entire range is protected within Shenandoah National Park but unfortunately this can’t protect the salamander from climate change or from the competing eastern red-backed salamander. 

Additional research into the extent of this species’ range as well as what its specific needs and preferences are could enhance future conservation efforts.