Red Back Salamander

Red Back Salamander

Salamandra cinerea Green, 1818

The red back (or redback or red-backed) salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a small, hardy woodland salamander. It inhabits wooded slopes in Eastern North America; west to Missouri; south to North Carolina; and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada to Minnesota. It is also known as the Northern redback salamander to distinguish it from the Southern redback salamander (Plethodon serratus). The red-backed salamander is found mostly in two color variations: the nominate red variety, 'redback', as well as a darker phase known as the 'leadback' which lacks most or all of the red pigmentation found in the red phase. However, one can also find a variety of other color variations (e.g., stripe of yellow, orange, white, or an uncommon erythristic morph, which is completely reddish-orange).