Reptile/Amphibian of the Week

[Teenage Herpetologist]

Hello everyone. I know I haven't done any Reptile/Amphibian's of the Week lately. I have been focusing on school mostly, so I have been forgetting, but I will do it today.


This week's Amphibian of the Week is...

The Tiger Salamander!


These adorable, derpy-faced salamanders look a lot like spotted salamanders, but the spots, when present, are larger, more irregular, and extend down the sides and onto the belly. Some baby tiger salamanders never develop into their land form; they spend their entire life in water, where they eventually breed. Tiger salamanders are also known to live over 10 years.

 

[kinyonga]

I missed your posts!
These are a really neat critter! I love their derpy faces!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

When I was around 12, I went on a hike with the local hiking club. Out in the woods someplace, I turned over a log to find a cluster of spotted salamanders. I think it was the surprise/shock, but it scared the out of me. I screamed and ran full-tilt all the way back to the car and waited several hours for the group to return.

I haven't seen any of the little slimy buggers since, though I still turn over logs & rocks looking for them in the woods.

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

Man, you were just lucky to find them. I have been looking for any kind of salamander for years.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Were talking probably before your father was born—and as I said—I haven't seen one in the wild since, despite looking for them. According to their habitat...
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Spotted-Salamander

They live in hardwood and mixed forests close to stagnant water sources like swamps, ponds, and vernal pools (temporary or seasonal pools of water).

...they should be in the back of my own property, but I've not seen them in the 30+ years I've been here.

 

[kinyonga]

I used to go hunting in the bush near me and found quite a few...but th weren't those ones. I'm in Canada though so we might not have those ones here.

There's a road in Burlington they close every year when a certain type of salamander is looking for mates because they're endangered and they cross that road. It's a neat thing that they do that...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hami...e-crossing-of-endangered-salamander-1.4016923

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I think what startled me most was the size of the spotted salamanders (6-10") and their brilliant yellow spots on black body. I'd seen salamanders before in creeks & drainage ditches near home, but they were tiny brown ones 3-4" at most.

At least they weren't Chinese giant salamanders!

https://www.reddit.com/r/HumanForScale/comments/ehpj88/the_critically_endangered_giant_chinese/

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

OH SNAP! That is a big Hellbender!!!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Different genus entirely, but good comment!

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

WHOOPS

 

[kinyonga]

Eek! That's one huge salamander!!!!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Ain't he, though?

They grow big catfish too.

https://wwf.panda.org/?unewsid=167421

 

[kinyonga]

I had to see its face...such as it is...
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/chinese-giant-salamander

And they make sounds like a baby crying too?

Look what you started @12 YEAR OLD HERPOTOLIGIST !
Nice going!

 

[Teenage Herpetologist]

THAT'S A BIG FISH! I've only seen on alive a little under half that size.