Plethodon is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are also known as woodland salamanders or, more rarely, slimy salamanders. All members of the genus are endemic to North America. They have no aquatic larval stage. In some species, such as Plethodon cinereus, the red-backed salamander, eggs are laid underneath a stone or log. 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 red-backed salamander is a small, hardy woodland salamander species in the family Plethodontidae. It is also known as the redback salamander, eastern red-backed salamander, or the northern red-backed salamander to distinguish it from the southern red-backed salamander. The species inhabits wooded slopes in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to North Carolina, and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime provinces in Canada to Minnesota. It is one of 56 species in the genus Plethodon. Red-backed salamanders are notable for their color polymorphism and primarily display two color morph varieties, which differ in physiology and anti-predator behavior.
The northern slimy salamander is a species of terrestrial plethodontid salamander found throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States.
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 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 southern gray-cheeked salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the area where North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia adjoin each other in the southeastern United States. The species has a known altitudinal range of 256 to 1,295 m in the mountains of the region. Where their ranges overlap, it hybridizes with P. jordani and P. teyahalee. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Rich Mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The ravine salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species is endemic to the United States, and it is threatened by habitat loss.
The Sequoyah slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.
The Shenandoah salamander is a small, terrestrial salamander found exclusively in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The Shenandoah salamander inhabits a very small range of land on just three mountain peaks. Due to the small habitat range, interspecies competition, and climate change, the population of the Shenandoah salamander is vulnerable to extinction. Mitigating human effects on the habitat of the species will be essential in attempting to preserve and grow the population.
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 Chattahoochee slimy salamander (Plethodon chattahoochee) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the United States, where it is found only in the Chattahoochee National Forest and Nantahala National Forest in the states of Georgia and North Carolina. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It was once classified within the northern slimy salamander (P. glutinosus) until it was found to be a distinct species. Its range narrowly intersects with the northern slimy salamander, the Atlantic Coast slimy salamander (P. chlorobryonis), and the southern Appalachian salamander (P. teyahalee) and widely intersects with the red-legged salamander (P. shermani), and it is known to hybridize with the latter three.
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 the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina. It is named after the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, as its first recorded sighting was within its vicinity. Its natural habitat is temperate forest.
