Natural History of the Central Newt (Notophthalmus louisianensis)
Blog Post 1
For a class field trip, we traveled to Caw Caw Interpretive Center located in Ravenel, SC. This salamander was found in the wetlands of the center. It was identified as the Central Newt, also known as the Notophthalmus louisianensis.
The salamander was identified as such because it had a tail fin, no red markings along its back or belly, and it had a yellow belly with numerous black spots. It also had a characteristic dark line from its nostrils to its eyes. Because we found it in the wetlands, it makes sense as to why this herp had a tail fin, although it lacked the gills. The salamander was smaller than the palm of our hands, but seemed to be sexually mature considering its cloaca looked to be swollen. The sex of the above pictured Central Newt was determined to be a male because it had a bulbous cloaca and also because of the appearance of dark straddle markings along its hind legs. The dark straddles are pictured below.
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| Picture of both a male and female Central Newt. The male is on the left and the female is on the right. |
1 comment:
So cool! What does the presence of the tail fin indicate about the life stage of this individual?
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