Biology:Northern gray-cheeked salamander

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Short description: Species of amphibian

Northern gray-cheeked salamander
Northern Gray-cheeked Salamander white bg.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Plethodontidae
Subfamily: Plethodontinae
Genus: Plethodon
Species:
P. montanus
Binomial name
Plethodon montanus
Highton & Peabody, 2000

The northern gray-cheeked salamander (Plethodon montanus) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae and endemic to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. It is closely related to the Red-cheeked salamander and the Red-legged salamander. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is found under moss, rocks, logs, and bark in cool, moist forests above 2500 feet. Especially found in spruce-fir forests. The Gray-cheeked Salamander commonly eats millipedes, earthworms, crane flies, spiders, and centipedes and less commonly eats ants, mites, and springtails.[2] They eat spiders, moths, flies, beetles, bees, and snails.[3] The male and female perform a courtship, where the male nudges the female with his snout, does a foot dance, then circles under the female and the two then walk together.[4] Like other salamanders, they do not migrate or aggregate during breeding season. [5] It is threatened by habitat loss.[1]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q1593966 entry