I’m delighted to share this guest blog post written by Saunders Drukker. Saunders is an Ecology and Biodiversity major at Sewanee (Class of 2017). He’s been studying salamanders and other herps for years. I hope you’ll enjoy his observations and photographs.
As the days here in Sewanee start winding down toward winter, many nature lovers’ subjects begin to disappear. Birds make their way south, mammals start looking for places to hide until spring, and trees go dormant, leaving many of us struggling to find things worth searching for. Thankfully, as everything else goes away, one group begins their most active period of the year: salamanders. Each year in winter salamanders become active by the thousands, moving about the forest floor searching for places to breed.
One of the main groups active at this time year is the Ambystomatids or Mole Salamanders. These stout little amphibians spend much of their year hiding underground, but when the weather cools down and the rains start up they begin to move toward their ephemeral breeding ponds. One of the most striking and most active at this time is the Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma opacum.
Marbled Salamander
These salamanders come out from their underground hideaways and move to the locations of ponds before these depressions fill with water. Here, the salamanders breed and lay eggs in the muddy bed of the pond, where they guard them until the rains come. Once the pond fills with water, the adults return to the forest. The eggs hatch, filling the pool with thousands of larval salamanders. By laying their eggs in the pond before all the other species arrive, the Marbled Salamanders give their young quite the advantage. By hatching earlier than all others, larval Marbled salamanders become large enough to prey upon the smaller larval Spotted Salamanders Ambystoma maculatum once they arrive in spring.
Three Ambystomatid Salamanders of Sewanee, Spotted, Marbled, and Mole Salamanders
It is not just the mole salamanders moving this time of year, though. The cool wet weather is ideal for almost all species found here on the plateau, especially the lungless species that require cool, wet conditions to be active. These salamanders, as their name implies, do not respire by use of lungs, instead they take oxygen from the environment around them, using their permeable skin to transfer oxygen and carbon dioxide. Some of the most easily found genera in Sewanee are Plethodon, Pseudotriton, Eurycea, Aneides, Hemidactylum, and Desmognathus.
Zig Zag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis)
Two Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera)
Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinous)
Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber)
Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus)
Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus)
Four-Toed Salamander (Hemidactylum scutatum)
Cumberland Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus abditus)
Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)
On any rainy cold night large numbers of these salamanders can be found moving across the forest floor, or even across roads, so keep an eye out when you’re driving on backroads. Sewanee boasts a huge diversity of salamanders, and winter is by far the best time to go out looking for them.
All text and photographs on this post, copyright Saunders Drukker, 2015.
David George Haskell 
Wow, thanks for this post. I learned a lot. Had no idea that these critters are most active now, and will be on the lookout.
Fascinating! Can’t believe the assortment of species around Sewanee, had no idea.
terrific post! Thank you – in the immortal words of Johnny Carson, “I did not know that”
Thanks for the peep at your lovelies. These are not something we often get to see here in the Sonoran Desert.
Yes…except when the spadefoots come out? I’ve heard the emergence can be spectacular.
Maybe I should start hunting salamanders in the winter when all my odonates have disappeared under water or moved on. Love these beautiful photographs.
Go for it!!
I love this! I love salamanders! Question: Where did you find the zigzag? I remember Harry Yeatman saying they found one in the “cave” behind Bridal Veil Falls.
They’re scattered through the coves, so not that uncommon in the right habitat.
Do you know the locality for that D. abditus photo? It’s my understanding that neither that species or D. ocoee has been recorded from Franklin County, so if that individual was found on the Sewanee campus, that would be a pretty significant sighting.
Saunders is conducting a research project on this species, including range. He’ll have his work ready for publication soon, I believe. The species is indeed in Franklin County and in other locations so far unreported.
Awesome! I look forward to seeing the publication.
Hello,
Saunders here.
That abditus is from Franklin county from a new population that I found a few months ago. In the past few months I’ve found 6 new populations of abditus between Franklin, Marion and Grundy counties.
Like Dr. Haskel said, a few papers are going to be coming out of this work in the next few months.