Plethodon is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are commonly known as woodland salamanders. All members of the genus are endemic to North America. They have no aquatic larval stage. In some species, such as the red-backed salamander. Young hatch in the adult form. Members of Plethodon primarily eat small invertebrates. The earliest known fossils of this genus are from the Hemphillian of Tennessee in the United States.
The northern slimy salamander is a species of terrestrial plethodontid salamander found throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States.
The Tellico salamander is a small woodland salamander resembling Plethodon glutinosus found in mountainous and lowland regions of southeastern Tennessee and extreme southwestern North Carolina. Little has been published on the species.
Ainsworth's salamander is an extinct species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It was endemic to the United States and only known from its type series collected in Jasper County, Mississippi in 1964. Later research has cast doubt to its validity; it might be a junior synonym of Plethodon mississippi.
The white-spotted slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the Eastern United States. It is one of 55 species in the genus Plethodon, and was one of the first to be described of its cogeners. The preferred habitat of this species is under logs and leaf litter in shaded hardwood forests and wooded floodplains, and often forages on the forest floor on wet nights. It was found that with increasing temperatures, the aggression in this species also increases. In the plethodon genus, species have a lungless morphology, restricting nearly all gas and water exchange transport to the body surface. This species mainly consumes insects, including ants, centipedes, springtails, crickets, millipedes, slugs, snout-beetles, and earthworms. Common predators of this species are gartersnakes, copperheads, and birds. One of their predator defense mechanisms is the release of noxious/sticky substances through the skin by the dorsal granular glands. Another predator deterrent is when touched, this species will freeze in place and become immobile. This species of Plethodon are mostly terrestrial and deposit their direct-developing eggs on land that omits the aquatic larval stage characteristic of most amphibians, therefore this species is not restricted to aquatic habitats for reproduction and dispersal. This species, along with other Plethodontid salamanders, are frequently parasitized by Trombicula mites.
The northern ravine salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species is endemic to the United States.
The Fourche Mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in the central United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests and it is threatened by habitat loss.
The Kiamichi slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the United States, has a natural habitat of temperate forests, and is found over a small range. This nocturnal species is mainly threatened by habitat loss and was first described by Highton in 1989. It is rated as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Pigeon Mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Pigeon Mountain in the US state of Georgia.
Plethodon punctatus, commonly known as the Cow Knob salamander or white-spotted salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to high mountain forests on the border of Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. Nearly all occurrences are on Shenandoah Mountain, Nathaniel Mountain and Great North Mountain in George Washington National Forest. Cow Knob salamanders are a member of the P. wehrlei species complex, which includes many other Appalachian salamanders historically referred to Plethodon wehrlei.
The Sequoyah slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The Big Levels salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Virginia in the eastern United States. First described in 2004, it derives its specific name, sherando, from Sherando Lake in the George Washington National Forest. Its common name refers to the Big Levels area of southeastern Augusta County, Virginia, a series of flat to gently rolling mountain tops in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where it was found.
The Webster's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the southeast United States, in patchy and disjunct lowland subpopulations ranging from South Carolina to Louisiana. Its natural habitat is mixed mesophytic temperate forests, in association with rocky streams and outcrops.
Weller's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. This species in endemic to the southeastern mountain range of the United States. It is mainly found in North Carolina near Grandfather Mountain. The salamanders have a unique metallic spotting which distinguishes them from other Plethodon species and other salamanders in the area. They mainly inhabit cool forests with rocky areas.
The southeastern slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States, where it is distributed in the Southeastern United States from southern Georgia west to Alabama and south to central Florida. Its natural habitats are steephead valleys, maritime forests and bottomland hardwood forests. Initially identified as a subspecies of P. glutinosus, P. grobmani is named for American zoologist Dr. Arnold B. Grobman.
The Ocmulgee slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the state of Georgia in the United States, where it is found in regions of the coastal plain and Piedmont that are associated with the Ocmulgee River drainage system. It is only known from a few counties, and due to this restricted range, it is at high risk of extinction. Many populations of this species are already experiencing precipitous declines, with some even possibly being extirpated.
The Blacksburg salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Southeastern United States, where it is restricted to a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia. Its common name refers the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, as many specimens were initially found in the vicinity of the town.
