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 Cheat Mountain salamander is a species of small woodland salamander found only on Cheat Mountain, and a few nearby mountains, in the eastern highlands of West Virginia. It and the West Virginia spring salamander are the only vertebrate species with geographic ranges restricted to that state.
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 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 valley and ridge salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States.
The Cumberland Plateau salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau, the southeastern United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. 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 Larch Mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the United States. It occurs in the Cascade Mountains of southern Washington and northern Oregon. In Washington, it occurs from the Columbia River Gorge to just north of Snoqualmie Pass. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The South Mountain gray-cheeked salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the state of North Carolina in the United States, where it is only found in the South Mountains. It was formerly considered a variant of the red-cheeked salamander. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The northern gray-cheeked salamander 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. They eat spiders, moths, flies, beetles, bees, and snails. 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. Like other salamanders, they do not migrate or aggregate during breeding season. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Jemez Mountains salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to New Mexico in the United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss, is in rapid decline, and was placed on the IUCN Red List in 2013.
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 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 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 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.
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.
