Species: Ambystoma tigrinum

Tiger Salamander
Species

    Coloration geographically variable to an extreme, often mottled, blotched, or spotted; adults are stocky, with 11-14 (usually 12-13) costal grooves, a broad head, small eyes, and tubercles on the soles of the feet; pond-type larva (but lacks balancers), with three large pairs of gills, vomerine teeth in U-shaped pattern, and dorsal fin extending to region of axilla; adults usually are about 15-22 cm in total length (to about 34 cm) (Stebbins 1951, 1985; Behler and King 1979; Conant and Collins 1991).

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Amphibia

    Order

    Caudata

    Family

    Ambystomatidae

    Genus

    Ambystoma

    Classification
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Amphibians - Salamanders
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Amphibia - Caudata - Ambystomatidae - Ambystoma - in Michigan. See Lowcock et al. (1987) for a discussion of the nomenclature treatment of hybrids.

    Coloration geographically variable to an extreme, often mottled, blotched, or spotted; adults are stocky, with 11-14 (usually 12-13) costal grooves, a broad head, small eyes, and tubercles on the soles of the feet; pond-type larva (but lacks balancers), with three large pairs of gills, vomerine teeth in U-shaped pattern, and dorsal fin extending to region of axilla; adults usually are about 15-22 cm in total length (to about 34 cm) (Stebbins 1951, 1985; Behler and King 1979; Conant and Collins 1991).

    Short General Description
    A salamander.
    Migration
    false - true - false - May migrate up to at least a few hundred meters between breeding and nonbreeding habitats. In New York, all movements occurred in areas within 300 m of the nearest breeding pond (Madison and Farrand 1998). Migrations often coincide with rainfall. Migrations in New York were facultative; some did not emigrate from ponds during the year of breeding (Madison and Farrand 1998).
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Adults eat any small animal that can be captured and swallowed. Larvae eat aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates (especially amphibian larvae) as available.
    Reproduction Comments
    In general, breeding occurs in spring in the north and at high elevations, in winter in the southern U.S., in late winter/spring and/or summer in the Southwest, and in late winter-early spring in the mid-Atlantic states. Typically the female oviposits within two days after picking up a spermatophore. Individual female deposit up to 1,000 eggs. Eggs hatch in about 2-5 weeks, depending on the temperature. Larvae metamorphose in their first or second summer, or they may not metamorphose at all (become sexually mature as gilled larvae). Reproductive success may be highly dependent on seasonal patterns of rainfall and temperature (Mitchell 1991). In South Carolina, reproductive success varied greatly in different years; little or no recruitment occurred during drought periods (Pechmann et al. 1991). Breeding aggregations may include a few or up to several hundred adults.
    Ecology Comments
    In New York, frequent predation occurred in small mammal runways, probably by short-tailed shrews (Madison and Farrand 1998).
    Length
    35
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2003-10-15
    Global Status Last Changed
    2001-10-02
    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S4&CA.MB=S4&CA.ON=SX&CA.SK=S5&US.AL=S3&US.AZ=S5&US.AR=S3&US.CO=S5&US.DE=SNR&US.FL=S3&US.GA=S3&US.ID=S5&US.IL=S5&US.IN=S4&US.IA=S5&US.KS=S5&US.KY=S4&US.LA=S1&US.MD=S2&US.MI=S3&US.MN=SNR&US.MS=S1&US.MO=SNR&US.MT=S4&US.NN=S5&US.NE=S5&US.NV=SE&US.NJ=SNR&US.NM=S5&US.NY=S1&US.NC=S2&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=S3&US.OK=S5&US.OR=S2&US.PA=SX&US.SC=SNR&US.SD=S5&US.TN=S5&US.TX=S5&US.UT=S4&US.VA=S1&US.WA=S3&US.WI=S4&US.WY=S4" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - 2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - See Church et al. (2003) for a map of the county distribution of the eastern tiger salamander.
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101447