The U.S. state of Alabama has 73 known indigenous amphibian species. [1] These indigenous species include 30 frog and toad species and 43 salamander species. [2] [3] [4] Two of these native species may have become extirpated within the state. They are the Mississippi gopher frog and flatwoods salamander. [1] [5]
Human predation, pollution, and habitat destruction has placed several amphibian species at risk of extirpation or extinction. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lists the conservation status of each species within the state with a rank of lowest, low, moderate, high, and highest concern. [1]
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bufo americanus | American toad | Bufonidae | Lowest | |
Bufo fowleri | Fowler's toad | Bufonidae | Lowest | |
Bufo quercicus | oak toad | Bufonidae | Moderate | |
Bufo terrestris | southern toad | Bufonidae | Lowest | |
Acris crepitans | northern cricket frog | Hylidae | Low | |
Acris gryllus | southern cricket frog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Hyla andersonii | pine barrens treefrog | Hylidae | High | |
Hyla avivoca | bird-voiced treefrog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Hyla chrysoscelis | Cope's gray treefrog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Hyla cinerea | American green treefrog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Hyla femoralis | pine woods treefrog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Hyla gratiosa | barking treefrog | Hylidae | Low | |
Hyla squirella | squirrel treefrog | Hylidae | Low | |
Pseudacris brachyphona | mountain chorus frog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Pseudacris crucifer | spring peeper | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Pseudacris feriarum | upland chorus frog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Pseudacris nigrita | southern chorus frog | Hylidae | Lowest | |
Pseudacris ocularis | little grass frog | Hylidae | High | |
Pseudacris ornata | ornate chorus frog | Hylidae | Moderate | |
Eleutherodactylus planirostris | greenhouse frog | Eleutherodactylidae | Exotic, Native to Cuba and the Caribbean. | |
Gastrophryne carolinensis | eastern narrowmouth toad | Microhylidae | Lowest | |
Scaphiopus holbrookii | eastern spadefoot | Pelobatidae | Low | |
Rana capito | gopher frog | Ranidae | Highest | |
Rana catesbeiana | American bullfrog | Ranidae | Lowest | |
Rana clamitans ssp. | bronze frog green frog | Ranidae | Lowest | |
Rana grylio | pig frog | Ranidae | Lowest | |
Rana sevosa | Mississippi gopher frog | Ranidae | Possibly extirpated/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as endangered | |
Lithobates heckscheri | river frog | Ranidae | Highest | |
Rana palustris | pickerel frog | Ranidae | Low | |
Rana sphenocephala | southern leopard frog | Ranidae | Lowest | |
Rana sylvatica | wood frog | Ranidae | Moderate |
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Family | Conservation concern |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ambystoma cingulatum | flatwoods salamander | Ambystomatidae | Possibly extirpated/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as threatened | |
Ambystoma maculatum | spotted salamander | Ambystomatidae | Low | |
Ambystoma opacum | marbled salamander | Ambystomatidae | Low | |
Ambystoma talpoideum | mole salamander | Ambystomatidae | Low | |
Ambystoma texanum | smallmouth salamander | Ambystomatidae | Moderate | |
Ambystoma tigrinum | eastern tiger salamander | Ambystomatidae | Moderate | |
Amphiuma means | two-toed amphiuma | Amphiumidae | Low | |
Amphiuma pholeter | one-toed amphiuma | Amphiumidae | High | |
Amphiuma tridactylum | three-toed amphiuma | Amphiumidae | Low | |
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis | hellbender | Cryptobranchidae | Highest | |
Aneides aeneus | green salamander | Plethodontidae | High | |
Desmognathus aeneus | seepage salamander | Plethodontidae | High | |
Desmognathus apalachicolae | Apalachicola dusky salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Desmognathus auriculatus | southern dusky salamander | Plethodontidae | Highest | |
Desmognathus conanti | spotted dusky salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Desmognathus monticola | seal salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Desmognathus ocoee | Ocoee salamander | Plethodontidae | Moderate | |
Eurycea cirrigera | southern two-lined salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Eurycea guttolineata | three-lined salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Eurycea longicauda | long-tailed salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Eurycea lucifuga | cave salamander spotted-tail salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Eurycea quadridigitata | dwarf salamander | Plethodontidae | Moderate | |
Gyrinophilus palleucus | Tennessee cave salamander | Plethodontidae | High | |
Gyrinophilus porphyriticus ssp. | spring salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Hemidactylium scutatum | four-toed salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Phaeognathus hubrichti | Red Hills salamander | Plethodontidae | High/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife lists as threatened Official state amphibian | |
Plethodon glutinosus | northern slimy salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Plethodon grobmani | southeastern slimy salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Plethodon mississippi | Mississippi slimy salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Plethodon serratus | southern redback salamander | Plethodontidae | Moderate | |
Plethodon ventralis | southern zigzag salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Plethodon websteri | Webster's salamander | Plethodontidae | Lowest | |
Pseudotriton montanus flavissimus | Gulf Coast mud salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Pseudotriton ruber ruber | northern red salamander | Plethodontidae | Low | |
Pseudotriton ruber vioscai | southern red salamander | Plethodontidae | Moderate | |
Necturus alabamensis | Alabama waterdog Black Warrior waterdog | Proteidae | High | |
Necturus beyeri | Gulf Coast waterdog speckled waterdog Beyer's waterdog | Proteidae | Low | |
Necturus maculosus | common mudpuppy | Proteidae | Low | |
Necturus species | Loding's waterdog | Proteidae | Low/ Taxonomy undescribed Known from lesser Gulf of Mexico drainages from Mobile Bay eastward. | |
Notophthalmus viridescens ssp. | eastern newt | Salamandridae | Lowest | |
Siren intermedia | lesser siren | Sirenidae | Lowest | |
Siren lacertina | greater siren | Sirenidae | Moderate | |
Siren reticulata | reticulated siren/leopard eel | Sirenidae | Undetermined Species identified in 2018 Known from two locations in the southern pin plains and hills of the state. |
Amphibians are ectothermic, tetrapod vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal or freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Thus amphibians typically start out as larvae living in water, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.
The hellbender, also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in North America. A member of the family Cryptobranchidae, the hellbender is the only extant member of the genus Cryptobranchus. Other closely related salamanders in the same family are in the genus Andrias, which contains the Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders. The hellbender, which is much larger than all other salamanders in its geographic range, employs an unusual means of respiration, and fills a particular niche—both as a predator and prey—in its ecosystem, which either it or its ancestors have occupied for around 65 million years. The species is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in the Northern Hemisphere and most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm.
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The timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, or banded rattlesnake is a species of venomous pit viper endemic to eastern North America. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous Northeastern United States and is second only to its relatives to the west, the prairie rattlesnake, as the most northerly distributed venomous snake in North America. No subspecies are currently recognized.
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The reticulated flatwoods salamander is a species of mole salamander, an amphibian in the family Ambystomatidae. The species is native to a small portion of the southeastern coastal plain of the United States in the western panhandle of Florida and extreme southwestern Georgia. The species once occurred in portions of southern Alabama but is now considered extirpated there. Its ecology and life history are nearly identical to its sister species, the frosted flatwoods salamander. A. bishopi inhabits seasonally wet pine flatwoods and pine savannas west of the Apalachicola River-Flint River system. The fire ecology of longleaf pine savannas is well-known, but there is less information on natural fire frequencies of wetland habitats in this region. Like the frosted flatwoods salamander, the reticulated flatwoods salamander breeds in ephemeral wetlands with extensive emergent vegetation, probably maintained by summer fires. Wetlands overgrown with woody shrubs are less likely to support breeding populations.
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