Avalanche wrote:Kyanite wrote:Avalanche wrote:Hey, does anybody have some good tips for identification in the Family Plethodontidae (Lungless Salamanders)??
As in telling apart the genus's in the family? or the family from other families?
Mainly telling apart the genera from other genera.
Desmognathus: head shape very distinct, keeled tail
Plethodon: way bigger than desmo, round tail
Ensatina: bright orange, sometimes black with bright yellow, basically bright colors, also relatively short and fat, head has a kinda eye bulge, also suggest memorizing individual species
Aneides: its head usually has two large glands, it has different feet that resemble toe pads sorta, what usually throws ppl off is the black salamander cuz it looks like Plethodon, but you gotta look at its feet, Aneides has naasty teeth
Hydromantes: head is in a pointed shape, looks like a batra head except it's not long
Batrachoseps: it's hella long and long tail, and if u see a sal curled up like a snake it's gotta be a batra
Hemidactylium: underside
Gyrinophilus: nose things on face, pattern thing idek what to call it
Pseudotriton: the black spots are super distinct compared to lighter spots on gyrinophilus, the red sal is bright red the mud sal is brownish, but their black spots are BLACK
Eurycea: small, thin, memorize the individual species (there's the orange/black spots one and the two lined ones, etc.)
Typhlomolge: pale, blind, pinkish, arms are the skinniest things
I just type this on a whim, there are other things we've noticed but its sorta just intuitive at this point, hopefully that's enough?