One of the 14 salamanders on WAnimals
Amphibians · Caudata · Plethodontidae
Shenandoah Salamander
Plethodon shenandoah
It faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. See full glossary
The Shenandoah salamander lives only on the talus slopes of three summits in a national park in Virginia. Like all plethodontids it has no lungs and breathes entirely through its skin. Its tiny distribution is not down to habitat but to competition: a commoner sister species has gradually forced it onto the poorest soils.
Size
8 cm – 12 cm
Lifespan
25 years
Diet
Insectivore
Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Hard
Fun facts
- It has no lungs: like all plethodontids it breathes entirely through its skin and the lining of its mouth, which forces it to stay permanently moist and confines it to very specific microhabitats.
- Its tiny range is imposed not by climate but by a competitor: the commoner red-backed salamander pushes it off the deeper soils, and it survives only on the dry talus slopes where that species does not thrive.
- The whole species lives on a few hectares of three summits, which makes it one of the most narrowly distributed vertebrates in the United States.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)
- Habitat & environment
- Talus slopes of three summits in Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia, United States
- Size at birth
- Hatches as a fully formed salamander, with no aquatic larval stage
- Sexual maturity
- 4 years
- Gestation / incubation
- Direct development in the egg, with no tadpole stage
- Litter / clutch size
- 12 eggs
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapBest time: From spring to autumn, on humid nights, on three rocky talus slopes in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia: it lives nowhere else in the world.
Where to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Shenandoah Salamander — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Northern Slimy Salamander
Plethodon glutinosus
Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
American Toad
Anaxyrus americanus
Eastern Newt
Notophthalmus viridescens
Eastern Tiger Salamander
Ambystoma tigrinum
How to help
The shenandoah salamander is classified as endangered. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 1 real protected area — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about shenandoah salamander.
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