Plethodon vandykei or Van Dyke's Salamander is a salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

 in the order Caudata and the family Plethodontidae

Lungless salamander

The Plethodontidae, or Lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the western hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea...

. More recently the species has been used in research, in order to find out about the geomorphic conditions in Washington State.

Description

Van Dyke's salamander grows up to 6.2 cm long, and has large parotid gland

Parotid gland

The paired parotid glands are the largest of the salivary glands. They are each found wrapped around the mandibular ramus, and secrete saliva through Stensen's ducts into the oral cavity, to facilitate mastication and swallowing and to begin the digestion of starches.-Location:The parotid glands...

s on either side of its head. The salamanders usually have a dark colored belly that may have white flecks across it. Several different colour patterns or "phases" have been observed; yellow/orange, rose/salmon pink and yellow striped with black sides. These differences in colouration are believed to be due to variations in the climate. The adult males have yellow throat markings which are used in courtship

Courtship

Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...

. The species is most active at night when conditions are moist and above freezing.

Identification

Van Dyke's salamander has 14 costal groove

Costal groove

The Costal groove is a groove between the ridge of the internal surface of the rib and the inferior border. It contains the intercostal vessels and intercostal nerve....

s. They also have 1/2 to 3 costal folds in between the toes of their adpressed limbs. These salamanders have nasolabial grooves, unlike Lungless Salamanders. The dorsal stripe on Van Dyke's Salamander appears to have drops of color extending down the sides of the organism. The presence of parotoid gland

Parotoid gland

The parotoid gland is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It secretes a milky alkaloid substance to deter predators...

s also sets Van Dyke's Salamander apart from other salamanders. They also lack constriction at the base of their tail, which distinguishes them from Ensatina

Ensatina

Ensatina eschscholtzii is a complex of plethodontid salamanders found in coniferous forests, oak woodland and chaparral from British Columbia, through Washington, Oregon, across California , all the way down to Baja California in Mexico.-As a ring species:The...

.

Taxonomy

Tetrapoda: Amphibia: Batrachia: Caudata: Salamandroidea: Plethodontidae: Plethodontinae: Plethodontini: Plethodon

Subspecies

• Washington Salamander, Plethodon vandykei vandykei
• Coeur D'Alene Salamander, Plethodon vandykei idahoensis

Habitat

Like most terrestrial salamanders Van Dyke's Salamander lives near lakes, rivers, and streams under various objects such as rocks, logs, and bark. Salamanders' habitat range from wide open lowlands up to heavily wooded mountains. It is in this wood that they lay their eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

.

Distribution

The species is endemic to the western portion of the state of Washington, northern Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, and northwestern Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 in the U.S.A. It is predominantly located in hilly or mountainous regions such as the Olympic Hills, the Willapa Hills

Willapa Hills

The Willapa Hills is a geologic, physiographic, and geographic region in southwest Washington. When described as a physiographical province, the Willapa Hills are bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Columbia River to the south, the Olympic Mountains to the north, and the Cascade Range to...

 and the Cascade Mountains.

Behavior

Van Dyke's Salamanders are most active during two periods of the year. The first is after the snow melts in the spring, before the high temperatures of the summer season set in, and the second is in the rainy portion of the fall season, before the cold temperature hits. The species sometimes active during the hot summer months, but only if it lives in a particularly wet habitat.

Reproduction

Van Dyke's Salamanders lay eggs in small clusters, usually within cavities in decaying bark. The female attends the eggs until development was complete. The eggs hatch into fully developed small salamanders. Eggs are usually laid in the spring and the females guard them during the summer.

External links

• Pictures
• Distribution Map