Bouncing Babies
Here we have some bouncing baby…umm, boys and girls I would guess. These spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) babies will soon be hatching from their globular masses and become veracious predators in the little vernal pools in which they temporarily reside. As they feed and grow, they will be racing against the clock in order to develop from free swimming legless tadpoles into four legged land dwellers before their nursery pool dries out towards the end of the summer. Talk about rapid development! Elyse Henshaw Conservation Technician
Read MoreUnderwater 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 MoreAmphibian Crossing
This Wednesday or Thursday, depending on your location in the Northeast, should bring temperatures well past 40 or even 50 with rainy conditions. Since it is late March it may be the first night of amphibian migration as these are ideal conditions for frogs, toads and salamanders to emerge from hibernation and start migrating to a nearby wetland at night! Please slow down for salamanders and frogs when you’re driving back roads near wetlands – even when they don’t get crushed by your tires, the slipstream generated underneath a vehicle when you’re moving more than 20-25 MPH will pick these...
Read MoreNorthern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)
In the Chautauqua-Allegheny Region we have two species of dusky salamanders that have a lot in common. Do you have any idea which dusky this is? I’ll give you a hint: take a good look at the tail of this individual. Give up? This is a Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus), often mistaken for its relative the Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). Northern duskies have a distinctive keel on their tail whereas mountain duskies have round tails from base to tip, making it a little easier to tell the two very similar species apart. As you are getting out...
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