Yonahlossee salamander facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yonahlossee salamander
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Family:	Plethodontidae
Subfamily:	Plethodontinae
Genus:	Plethodon
Species:	P. yonahlossee
Binomial name
Plethodon yonahlossee Dunn, 1917
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Synonyms
Plethodon longicrus Adler & Dennis, 1962

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The Yonahlossee salamander (Plethodon yonahlossee) is a very large woodland salamander. It lives in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States. This salamander belongs to a group called Plethodontidae. These salamanders are special because they don't have lungs! They also develop directly, meaning their young hatch as tiny adults, not as larvae.

A scientist named E.R. Dunn first described the Yonahlossee salamander in 1917. He found it on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. The name "Yonahlossee" comes from Native American words. It means "trail of the bear." This name comes from Yonahlossee Road near Linville, where the first one was found.

What Does the Yonahlossee Salamander Look Like?

A Yonahlossee salamander in the North Carolina mountains

The Yonahlossee salamander is a large salamander from the Southern Appalachian region. You can usually tell it apart by its big size and its special rust-colored back. Like all salamanders in its group, it doesn't have lungs. Also, its young hatch as small versions of the adults. There is no tadpole-like stage. Adult salamanders have a groove between their nose and lip. This helps them smell things around them.

The salamander's back is black with reddish-brown or red spots. The color depends on how old it is. Young salamanders have more spots. Older ones have these spots join together to form a wide band down their back. Their sides have gray to white blotches. The top of their head is all black. Their belly and throat are usually dark. Sometimes they have a spotted pattern like their back.

The Yonahlossee salamander is the largest type of Plethodontidae salamander in North America. Female salamanders are much bigger than males. A typical adult is about 11 to 22 centimeters (4 to 8.5 inches) long. They usually have 15 or 16 grooves along their sides.

Where Do Yonahlossee Salamanders Live?

You can find the Yonahlossee salamander in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. They live in northern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and parts of southwest Virginia. They have been seen in places like Avery, Yancey, and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina. They also live in Rocky Fork State Park in Unicoi County, Tennessee, and on Whitetop Mountain, Virginia.

These salamanders live in different kinds of wooded areas in the mountains. They prefer forests with deciduous trees. These are trees that lose their leaves in the fall. They are found at heights between 437 and 1,737 meters (1,434 and 5,699 feet). They also like damp, shady spots. These include wooded hillsides and ravines with mossy rocks and ferns. You might also find them where old trees have fallen. They can also be in grassy areas near woodlands.

A special group of these salamanders lives only in Rutherford County, North Carolina. They are found near Bat Cave. These salamanders often live in rock cracks. Some scientists think they might be a separate species. They can have different colors and limb shapes. Their backs might be very red, spotty, or even lack red color. Their sides are dark with light spots. These Bat Cave salamanders are much darker than the common Yonahlossee salamander.

During the day, these salamanders hide under rotting logs or rocks. They also use burrows in the forest floor. These burrows are often under logs. It's not clear if they dig these burrows themselves or just use old ones. They like areas where old fallen logs have lost most of their bark. They prefer logs that are more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) wide. They also like a thick layer of leaves where the log meets the ground. On humid or rainy nights, they can be active. Sometimes they even cross roads in their habitat.

Life Cycle and Behavior

We don't know a lot about how these salamanders reproduce. They lay their eggs on land, usually in underground spaces. Like other salamanders in their group, the female might guard the eggs until they hatch.

Males likely produce sperm after they come out of hibernation. Scientists think they court each other in early August. This is when pairs of salamanders are found together. Males also have larger glands on their chins at this time. Females then lay their eggs in late August or early September. The number of eggs depends on the female's size. Usually, they lay between 19 and 27 eggs.

Salamanders are thought to become adults around three years old. A male is considered mature when his chin gland is about 56 millimeters (2.2 inches) long. For females, it's about 60 to 66 millimeters (2.4 to 2.6 inches), depending on their size.

Both young and adult salamanders come out at night to find food. Young salamanders are most active about an hour after sunset. Adults are most active one to two hours later. Both eat small insects and other tiny creatures. Their diet includes mites, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and earthworms.

Snakes, birds, and small mammals probably eat Yonahlossee salamanders. To protect themselves, these salamanders can release a bad-smelling liquid from their tails. This liquid is unpleasant for birds and other mammals. Also, if they are touched, they stop moving. This makes them harder for predators to see.

In labs, Yonahlossee salamanders have shown they will defend their living areas. Like most salamanders in their group, they move deeper underground when it gets cold in winter.

Are Yonahlossee Salamanders Safe?

As of 2014, the Yonahlossee salamander is listed as a least concern species. This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing. This is because they live in a large area with good habitat. This habitat doesn't seem to be under big threats. Scientists also believe there are many of them, and their numbers are not dropping quickly.

Some reports say that the number of Yonahlossee salamanders has stayed the same in certain places for many years. However, other scientists looking at the whole area where they live report that many groups of salamanders have been lost. This is due to habitat destruction. This includes cities growing bigger and more logging. So, a species can be common in one spot but still be decreasing overall. Salamanders lose their homes mainly because of direct destruction, breaking up their habitats, logging, and pollution.