Tremblay's salamander | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Urodela |
Family: | Ambystomatidae |
Genus: | Ambystoma |
Species: | A. tremblayi |
Binomial name | |
Ambystoma tremblayi Comeau, 1943 | |
Tremblay's salamander (Ambystoma tremblayi) is a member of the family Ambystomidae from the United States of America and Canada. Reaching between 3¾ and 6⅜" (9.3 and 16 cm), the salamander is long and slender with many bluish-white markings. It is dark gray to gray-black and the area around the vent is black. Tremblay's salamander is a hybrid species of Jefferson salamanders (A. jeffersonianum) and blue-spotted salamanders (A. laterale). This hybridization created two all-female species: Tremblay's and silvery salamanders. These genetic curiosities possess three sets of chromosomes instead of the normal two.
Tremblay's salamanders breed with male blue-spotted salamanders from March to April. Eggs are laid singly or in small masses of 6-10 eggs on debris at pond bottom. The males' chromosome contribution only stimulates the egg's development; its genetic material is ignored. It is not often observed and its diet and lifestyle are unknown.
These salamanders live on the bottom of deciduous forests from northern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, and southern Michigan east through southern Quebec to the New England coastal plain.
Organisms of many species are specialized into male and female varieties, each known as a sex. Sexual reproduction involves the combining and mixing of genetic traits: specialized cells known as gametes combine to form offspring that inherit traits from each parent. The gametes produced by an organism define its sex: males produce small gametes while females produce large gametes. Individual organisms which produce both male and female gametes are termed hermaphroditic. Gametes can be identical in form and function, but, in many cases, an asymmetry has evolved such that two different types of gametes (heterogametes) exist.
The mole salamanders are a group of advanced salamanders endemic to North America, the only genus in the family Ambystomatidae. The group has become famous due to the presence of the axolotl, widely used in research due to its paedomorphosis, and the tiger salamander which is the official amphibian of many states, and often sold as a pet.
The spotted salamander or yellow-spotted salamander is a mole salamander common in the eastern United States and Canada. The spotted salamander is the state amphibian of Ohio and South Carolina. This salamander ranges from Nova Scotia, to Lake Superior, to southern Georgia and Texas. Its embryos have been found to have symbiotic algae living inside them, the only known example of vertebrate cells hosting an endosymbiont microbe.
The blue-winged warbler is a fairly common New World warbler, 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long and weighing 8.5 g (0.30 oz). It breeds in eastern North America in southern Ontario and the eastern United States. Its range is extending northwards, where it is replacing the very closely related golden-winged warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera.
The alpine salamander is a shiny black salamander found in the central, eastern and Dinaric Alps, at altitudes above 700 m (2,300 ft). The western Alps are inhabited by a similar species, Lanza's alpine salamander, in only one small area. No differences in length are seen between the sexes and the sex ratio is 1:1. Their life expectancy is at least 10 years. Unlike other salamanders, whose larvae are developed in water, the alpine salamander is a fully terrestrial species. Capture-recapture methods suggest that the species is very stationary; 12 m (39 ft) was the maximum observed distance travelled by one individual during the summer season. About 120 individuals per hectare were counted in most suitable areas with >2000 individuals/ha also observed, suggesting that this rather cryptic species is quite abundant.
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The long-toed salamander is a mole salamander in the family Ambystomatidae. This species, typically 4.1–8.9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) long when mature, is characterized by its mottled black, brown, and yellow pigmentation, and its long outer fourth toe on the hind limbs. Analysis of fossil records, genetics, and biogeography suggest A. macrodactylum and A. laterale are descended from a common ancestor that gained access to the western Cordillera with the loss of the mid-continental seaway toward the Paleocene.
The marbled salamander is a species of mole salamander found in the eastern United States.
This article seeks to serve as a field-guide, central repository, and listing for the flora and fauna of the US state of North Carolina and surrounding territories.
The northern slimy salamander is a species of terrestrial plethodontid salamander found through much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States.
The small-mouth salamander is a species of mole salamander found in the central United States, from the Great Lakes region in Michigan to Nebraska, south to Texas, and east to Tennessee, with a population in Canada, in Pelee, Ontario. It is sometimes referred to as the Texas salamander, porphyry salamander, or the narrow-mouthed salamander. The Kelley's Island salamander was synonymized with A. texanum in 1995.
The southern dwarf siren is a perennibranch salamander lacking hind legs. Found exclusively in Florida, it is one of two currently recognized species of dwarf sirens. Two subspecies are currently recognized; P. a. axanthus, the narrow-striped dwarf siren, and P. a. belli, the Everglades dwarf siren.
Desmognathus fuscus is a species of amphibian in the family Plethodontidae. The species is commonly called the dusky salamander or northern dusky salamander to distinguish it from populations in the southern United States which form a separate species, the southern dusky salamander. The northern dusky salamander is the most widespread representative of its genus in Canada. It can be found in eastern North America from extreme eastern Canada in New Brunswick south into the panhandle of Florida and west to Louisiana. The size of the species' total population is unknown, but is assumed to easily exceed 100,000. The species' habitat differs somewhat geographically; dusky salamanders in the northern part of the range prefer rocky woodland streams, seepages, and springs, while those in the south favor floodplains, sloughs, and muddy places along upland streams. They are most common where water is running or trickling. They hide under various objects, such as leaves or rocks, either in or near water. Alternatively, they may enter burrows for protection. The dusky salamander lays its eggs close to water under moss or rocks, in logs, or in stream-bank cavities. The larval stage which follows is normally aquatic.
The fauna of Illinois include a wide variety of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects.
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