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Autumncrossing

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Found this guy on a rock in a river up in the North Carolina mountains , anyone know what species this fellow is?


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sde

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Looks like a Desmognathus species, but I have no idea which. FrogEyes probably knows, he may chime in. -Seth
 

FrogEyes

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Well, it IS a Desmognathus, but exactly which one will require some work. They generally have small ranges, small physical differences, and different habitats. Intuition says it's a seal salamander, D.monticola, but to be honest I'd have to check the details on that species and on that geographical area to have any confidence in the ID. It's aquatic, from the mountains of North Carolina, and has a keeled tail, which limits my options.
 

Autumncrossing

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Cool thanks y'all! Here's another one for you, found him under a rock in Virginia.
Is there a good book out there you guys could recommend on salamander identifications ?
Thanks! -Heidi
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FrogEyes

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The second one is Plethodon cinereus. The only other species similar to it in Virginia is P.shenandoah, which has a very limited range. I now suspect the first one to be D.quadramaculatus, but again with limited certainty.

I cannot recommend any single text for identifying salamanders, except maybe the most recent Peterson field guides for reptiles and amphibians. There's nothing that comprehensive or up to date. Dick Bartlett's guides have some potential, but are not technical enough and sometimes inaccurate for distribution. Salamanders of the Southeast is useful, but again might not be up to date or technical enough. Salamanders of the USA and Canada was a bit dated even when published. I can only suggest the most recent regional field guide, preferably those for adjacent areas, and all the relevant scientific papers which document range extensions and new species :S There are a bunch of undescribed desmos still, and several which are recently recognized and not included in most field guides.
 
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