Eastern Red-Backed Salamander

   

    During spring break, I had the opportunity to work with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). On March 19, we worked to restore a tree buffer around a farm in Maryland. While moving some around some tree litter and brush in order to plant a new tree, we came across a salamander! The salamander was dark brownish on the sides, had a red middorsal stripe, a long, slender body, a tail nearly as long as its body, four toes on the front feet and five toes on the hind feet. David, from CBF, quickly identified him as an Eastern Red-Backed Salamander, a very fitting common name. The scientific name is Plethodon cinereus. P. cinereus is in the Family Plethodontidae, the lungless salamanders with nasolabial grooves. 

    David said they are very common in Maryland and that you can flip over almost any log and find one. They are a woodland salamander and have no aquatic larval stage, thus their life history is direct development. The male will lay a spermatophore in a moist area and the female will pick it up and internal fertilization occurs. She will then lay her eggs in a damp area, under a log or rock. I was unable to identify the sex, as we had to get back to work. If it was male, he would have a metal gland under the chin. The species is somewhat sexually dimorphic with the females being slightly larger. Their average size it 5 to 12 centimeters long, according to Peterson’s Field Guide. It was a very exciting experience to find a salamander in the tree buffer around the farm. The tree buffer is not only filtering the runoff from the farm but also providing a habitat for other species that would not live there without the trees.