antonsrkn
Northern Zigzag Salamander
I saw plenty of Northern Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon dorsalis) Shawnee National Forest, Illinois. These were easily the most common herp at "snake road" and I probably saw close to a 100 of them under rocks on the rocky slopes. As I witnessed firsthand this species prefers moist rocky slopes. I was told that they are common only in the spring and winter and that during the rest of the year it is underground. This salamander is in the Plethodontidae family also known as "lungless salamanders" for obvious reasons. This salamander has no larval stage and lays its eggs on land somewhere moist, when the eggs hatch they are miniature replicas of the adults. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that the entire time I was finding these salamanders I was assuming that they were Eastern Redbacked Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) but once I got home I noticed that their range doesn't extend to where I was finding these. If you are interested you can check out my salamanders set to see just how similar the 2 species are the very 1st photo in the set is of P. cinerus.
Northern Zigzag Salamander
I saw plenty of Northern Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon dorsalis) Shawnee National Forest, Illinois. These were easily the most common herp at "snake road" and I probably saw close to a 100 of them under rocks on the rocky slopes. As I witnessed firsthand this species prefers moist rocky slopes. I was told that they are common only in the spring and winter and that during the rest of the year it is underground. This salamander is in the Plethodontidae family also known as "lungless salamanders" for obvious reasons. This salamander has no larval stage and lays its eggs on land somewhere moist, when the eggs hatch they are miniature replicas of the adults. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that the entire time I was finding these salamanders I was assuming that they were Eastern Redbacked Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) but once I got home I noticed that their range doesn't extend to where I was finding these. If you are interested you can check out my salamanders set to see just how similar the 2 species are the very 1st photo in the set is of P. cinerus.