Among sexual species, courtship and breeding tends to occur in ponds in the Spring (although at least one species deposits eggs on land in the Fall, which is accompanied by egg guarding by females). Other Names: Tiger Salamander, Barred Tiger Salamander, Tiger Salamander Additional Sources of Information Related to "Amphibians" American Society of Icthyologists and Herpetologists This salamander eats worms, mollusks (snails, slugs) and arthropods (spiders, insects, mites and others). Some mole salamanders have large poison glands on the head and along the body. Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838) Mole salamander, Massac County, Illinois. As with many Ambystomatids, the marbled salamander is a relatively stocky species. Little is known about Mole Salamander breeding in Indiana. •Mole Salamanders can live up to 20 years in the wild •When attacked Mole Salamanders will lash their tails, head-butt, bite, writhe, flee, or feign death to deter predators. All mole salamanders have lungs after metamorphosis. Ambystoma talpoideum, the mole salamander, is a species of salamander found in much of the eastern and central United States, from Florida to Texas, north to Illinois, east to Kentucky, with isolated populations in Virginia and Indiana.Older sources often refer to this species as the tadpole salamander because some individuals remain in a neotenic state. photo by A.R. Ambystomatids are called mole salamanders for their tendency to live under litter or in burrows, emerging and returning to water only to breed. Mole salamander larvae live in the water and have filmy gills that stick out behind their heads. The mole salamander lives in Illinois only in the southern one-fourth of the state. Kuhns. Key Characters: Dark, short body with disproportionately large head. Throughout their broader distribution, Mole Salamanders breed in the winter. Kuhns Neotenic juvenile mole salamander in Massac County, Illinois. Larval Mole Salamanders feed on small aquatic invertebrates (though cannibalism is well noted in this species) while adults feed on a variety of terrestrial invertebrates. Each female may produce 200 to 400 eggs. POLYPLOIDY IN SALAMANDERS: AMBYSTOMATIDAE. Recovery Plan The Amphibian Foundation has identified Mole Salamanders (a species of least concern throughout most their range), as in need of concern in the metro Atlanta region. Similarly, mole salamanders are classified as a species In Need of Management in Tennessee, where a permit is also required for all activities involving these animals. … Best places to see in Tennessee: This species is found in the western third of the state, with scattered populations found throughout the … The family Ambystomatidae (mole salamanders) contains about 30 species exclusive to North America, all of them usually classified into the single genus Ambystoma (AmphibiaWeb, 2004; but see Petranka, 1998).This genus includes the Mexican axolotl (A. photo by A.R. Many species are brightly colored with yellow, orange, or silver spots, bars, and frosted patterns on a black background. T. RYAN GREGORY, BARBARA K. MABLE, in The Evolution of the Genome, 2005. The marbled salamander is one of the smaller Ambystomatid mole salamander species found in North Carolina, with adults only reaching lengths between 3½-4½ inches. 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