Species
Frosted flatwoods salamander
Ambystoma cingulatum
A rare, frosted-grey salamander of longleaf pine flatwoods, protected under federal law.
Photo Stilo88 (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 9 to 13 cm long
- Habitat
- Longleaf pine flatwoods with seasonal, fire-maintained ponds
- Diet
- Worms and small invertebrates
- In Georgia
- A few sites in southwest and southeast Georgia; very rare
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Slender, black to dark grey with a frosted or lichen-like pattern of silver-grey
- Told apart from
- Mole salamander, which has a much larger head
- Where to look
- Almost never seen
Behaviour
It lives underground in pine flatwoods and moves to shallow, grassy, seasonal ponds to breed during autumn rains.
Why they matter
It depends on open pine flatwoods that burn regularly and on their seasonal ponds, and it has disappeared from most of its range. It is protected under federal law.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Laid on land in dry pond basins
Hatching — When the ponds flood
Larvae — Change in spring
Maturity — At one to two years
Lifespan — Several years
Migration — On rainy autumn nights
Living around people
- It is protected; its ponds and pine flatwoods are best left undisturbed.
Misconceptions
- Fire harms salamanders. Regular fire keeps its ponds grassy and open.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Larvae in ponds | Larvae | Larvae | Young leaving ponds | Underground | Underground | Underground | Underground | Underground | Moving to pond beds in rain | Laying eggs | Eggs hatching as ponds fill |
Where it lives
Recorded in 3 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
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