Marbled salamander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marbled salamander |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Ambystoma
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| Species: |
opacum
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The marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum) is a type of mole salamander. You can find these cool creatures in the eastern United States.
Contents
What Does a Marbled Salamander Look Like?
The marbled salamander is a sturdy salamander with bold patterns. Female salamanders usually have gray bands, while males have brighter white bands. Adult marbled salamanders can grow to about 11 cm (4 inches) long. This makes them smaller than some other salamanders in their family. Like most mole salamanders, they are shy. They spend most of their lives hidden under logs or in burrows underground.
Where Do Marbled Salamanders Live?
Marbled salamanders live across the eastern United States. Their home stretches from southern New England down to northern Florida. You can also find them west to Illinois and Texas. They have been seen as far north as New Hampshire, but this is very rare.
Their favorite places to live are damp woodlands and forests. They also like areas with soft, wet soil. Places that flood sometimes are very important for them to lay eggs. However, the salamanders usually do not go into the water themselves. Like many salamanders, marbled salamanders have special glands that produce a mild poison. This helps protect them from animals that might want to eat them.
The marbled salamander is the official state salamander of North Carolina.
The Marbled Salamander Life Cycle
How Do Marbled Salamanders Grow?
Adult marbled salamanders spend most of their time in burrows or under logs. This is typical for most mole salamanders. Young marbled salamanders hatch earlier than many other salamander types. This early start gives them a head start! They can eat and grow for several months before other salamanders, like Jefferson and spotted salamanders, hatch later in the spring.
Baby salamanders, called larvae, grow up quickly. In warmer southern areas, they can become adults in just two months. In colder northern areas, it might take them up to six months to mature. Marbled salamanders, like their relatives, can live for a long time. They often live 8 to 10 years or even longer!
How Do Marbled Salamanders Reproduce?
Marbled salamanders find their mates on land. Male salamanders might gently bump heads or block another male's path with their tail to compete. When a male wants to court a female, he will gently nudge her with his snout. The female might then nudge him back. This back-and-forth nudging looks like a slow dance as they circle each other.
This special dance ends when the male leaves a small packet of sperm called a spermatophore. The female then moves to pick it up with her body. After mating, the female will lay between 50 and 200 eggs. She often stays with her eggs until the nest area floods with water.
What Do Marbled Salamanders Eat?
Adult marbled salamanders eat small animals that live on land. Their diet includes worms, insects, centipedes, and mollusks like snails and slugs. Young salamanders (larvae) eat tiny water creatures called zooplankton. As they grow bigger, they might also eat the eggs and larvae of other amphibians.
Images for kids
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A marbled salamander larva.
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Another marbled salamander larva.
