Four-toed Salamander

About the Four-toed Salamander

The four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) is a lungless salamander native to eastern North America. It is the only species of the monotypic genus Hemidactylium. The four-toed salamander can be recognized by its white underbelly sprinkled with black dots. Its back varies from orange-brownish to red-brownish; its flanks are grayish. The body and the limbs are elongated. The snout is short, and the eyes are prominent. The tail color is usually brighter than the back, and you can observe a constriction at the body/tail junction. The posterior limbs have four toes (hence its name), a good identification criterion but hard to use in the field. This species rarely exceeds 10 cm (3.9 in) in length. In the breeding season (late October to early December) males have enlarged premaxillary teeth and truncated squarish snouts, which are round in females. The juveniles show a tail shorter than the body.

The four-toed salamander can be easily mistaken for the redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in the wild. The redback salamander's underbelly has more numerous black markings. Unlike the four-toed salamander, the redback salamander has no constriction at the tail base... Wikipedia →