Underwater World
While these little white puffs may look like little air pockets escaping from underwater volcanoes they are actually little spermatophores, or sperm packets produced by male spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), scattered across a vernal pool floor. As females arrive and enter ephemeral pools (sometimes up to a week after the males), males go into a frenzy. Typically the ratio of males to females in the pools is very skewed, with many males to every one female. This fuels some pretty intense male to male competition and very interesting sexual selection. Males surround females and nudge...
Read MoreSpring Migrations Have Begun!
So I’ve got a bit of a funny story for you and it goes a little something like this: last Thursday night, as we suspected, warm overnight rains began to draw spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), and other amphibians out from their winter refuges. They began their journeys to nearby vernal pools, but some of them took detours in the process. My husband Tyler and I were house and pet sitting for my parents while they were on vacation. Behind their home is a series of ponds that make up a beautiful wetland system, and vernal pools are abundant...
Read MoreCould Tonight be the Night?!
Tonight’s conditions are looking promising for amphibian migrations to begin as overnight temperatures will be above 40°F and rain is on it’s way. While humans don’t like to be out much during rainy nights, salamanders and frogs use these evenings to migrate in mass to their vernal breeding pools. With that said, be on the lookout for these special species whether you are hiking or driving and give them plenty of space as they make their way from their wooded hiding places to their watery breeding grounds.
Read MoreSpotted Salamander and Eastern Newt
Here are a couple of friends we met and Sean photographed during the BioBlitz yesterday – a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) and an Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). These neighbors could very well be in your backyard right now if you’re in the Eastern U.S. As Sean noted the rain may not have helped our overall total of life (bleh for bugs and birds!) but it did provide assistance for finding amphibians.
Read MoreSpotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) by Sean Graesser
Sean called this Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) he shot charismatic and I wholeheartedly agree! What a face.
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