Length: 3 1/2- 5 1/16 in.
The Flatwoods salamander is a small highly variable ambystomid, with coloration ranging from specks, to grayish lines that resemble a frosted or lichenlike reticulated pattern. About 5% of A. cingulatum lack the frosted appearance altogether, with 2% having light annuli on their dorsum (Petranka 1998). Costal grooves average at about fifteen. The head is small compared to the shoulder and neck. Sexual dimorphism is slight to non-existent, with sexually active males being slightly shorter in length, and having a swollen cloacal region. Hatchling A. cingulatum are 7.5-11.5 mm long, and are pale brown underneath, and dark brown above (Petranka 1998). The young develop a yellow stripe that runs the length of the body. Older larvae have a paler stripe that may be retained up to one year after metamorphosis. While variations in coloration are often geographic, subspecies are not recognized (Conant & Collins 1998).
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Ambystoma cingulatum occupies seasonally wet, pine flatwoods, and pine savannas in the southern United States. The Flatwoods salamander is typically found under logs near small cypress ponds. Traditionally, the Flatwoods salamander was found in sandy, seasonally wet, longleaf pine communities. But, due to European settlement these areas have been replaced by slash pine, or destroyed altogether (Petranka 1998). Adult A. cingulatum are subterranean, living mainly underground in root channels or crayfish burrows (Conant & Collins 1998).
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
South Carolina, Southern Georgia, and Northern Florida, west to southern Alabama.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Hatchlings begin feeding immediately on invertebrates and zooplankton, which aids them in growing at a rapid pace. As A. cingulatum becomes juveniles and adults, they remain carnivorous, feeding primarily on earthworms and other insects (Petranka 1998).
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
The Flatwoods salamander is a small, rare ambystomid with widely distributed populations. Clearing of land, creating ditches, filling wetlands, and conservation of native longleaf pine forests to create managed tree farms, have destroyed and reduced populations. A. cingulatum is a candidate for federal concern because populations seem to be declining throughout the range (Petranka 1998). It is endangered in South Carolina, rare in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Management is complicated, involving both aquatic and terrestrial preservation (Conant 1998).
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
It should be noted that A. cingulatum is one of the only terrestrial breeding salamanders that abandons its eggs in North America. (Conat & Collins, 1998) It is also interesting to consider that up to 77-84% of older larvae have damaged tails due to attacks from invertebrates. (Petranka, 1998)
Other than preservation of biodiversity and treasuring a native species to maintain ecosystem equilibrium, there is little economic importance to humans. It could however be hypothesized that salamanders keep insect populations under control
The male Flatwoods salamander reaches sexual maturity at one year, but often does not breed until the following season. The females are mature and breed during their second year (Petranka 1998). Breeding populations range from 200-400 adults. Migration to breeding sites such as ephemeral habitats like ditches, burrow pits, marshy ponds, and swamps is triggered by rainy weather from mid October to early February. The adults move during the heavy rain and cease moving within five hours of the end of rainfall (Petranka 1998). The salamanders travel to the breeding sites located at or near pine flatwoods that support long leaf pine, slash pine, and wiregrass. Males and females migrate together and emigrate in December and January, after spending approximately thirty eight days at the breeding site. They return to their home range, females weighing 37% less after ovipositing. A. cingulatum is one of the only Ambystoma species, other than A. opacum, that courts terrestrially (Petranka 1998). Females lay 1-34 eggs in linear or clumped fashion beneath logs, leaf litter, sphagnum mats, bare soil, bases of bushes, and at the entrances of crayfish burrows (Conant & Collins 1998). The female abandons the eggs and leaves them where they will hatch in about two weeks, triggered by heavy rains that raise the water level. Hatching becomes staggered when it requires multiple rains to fill the pond. The larval period lasts from three to five months (Petranka 1998).
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
The frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) is an endangered salamander species native to the Southeastern United States.
It is a small (9-13.5 cm total length), elongated species of mole salamander. It has a small, indistinct head, short legs, and a long, rounded tail. Typical coloration consists of a background of brownish- to purplish-black overlaid with narrow gray or silvery-white reticulations (net-like markings), bands, or diffuse spotting. The gilled aquatic larvae are distinctly colored, having a series of bold brown and yellow longitudinal stripes.
The frosted flatwoods salamander has a very narrow geographic distribution, occurring only in the southeastern coastal plain of the United States. It inhabits seasonally wet pine flatwoods and pine savannas east of the Apalachicola River in northern Florida, southern South Carolina, and southern Georgia.[3]
The frosted flatwoods salamander breeds in shallow, ephemeral ponds, generally characterized by an overstory of pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora) and a diverse understory of native grasses and herbs.
Adult salamanders spend most of the year underground in burrows, especially those of crayfish, where they are presumed to feed on a variety of small invertebrates, but the few existing prey records are mostly earthworms. From September through December, adults migrate from surrounding upland habitats to their natal wetlands during rainfall events associated with passing cold fronts.
Courtship occurs within dry pond basins or very shallow water, where the female accepts a spermatophore that has been deposited on the substrate by the male. Females lay 100-200 eggs, placing them in small groups of 1-12, usually within carpets of herbaceous vegetation or in the entrances of crayfish burrows in the dry pond basin. Embryos develop quickly within the egg capsule and will hatch in response to inundation by rising water levels in the pond basins. The larval period lasts 11–24 weeks, with metamorphs leaving the breeding ponds from April to June. Sexual maturity is approximately 1–2 years for males and 2–3 years for females.
Prior to European settlement, it was most likely a common member of the fire-maintained longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)-wiregrass (Aristida spp.) community, which has since largely been replaced by urban development, agriculture, and pine silviculture. One published study documents the extirpation of a sizable breeding population as a result of a common silvicultural practice of converting natural pine forest to ditched and bedded slash pine plantation.[4] Further degradation of remaining frosted flatwoods salamander habitat has occurred as a result of alteration of natural fire patterns. On conservation lands, a combination of winter prescribed fires and the suppression of natural summer wildfires has caused fire-maintained ephemeral wetland plant communities to shift away from their historic structure, eliminating the plants used as nesting habitat and larval refugia. As a result of these ongoing land use activities, populations are now extremely small, discontinuous, and widely fragmented throughout the range. It is currently restricted to a handful of remaining sites in Florida and Georgia, and has an especially tenuous presence in South Carolina.
The flatwoods salamander was listed as Federally Threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999, but populations continue to decline precipitously. When the species was separated into two species in 2007, the frosted flatwoods salamander and reticulated flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma bishopi), the frosted flatwoods salamander maintained Threatened status while the reticulated flatwoods salamander was soon placed on the Federally Endangered list.[5]
The frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) is an endangered salamander species native to the Southeastern United States.
Ambystoma cingulatum Ambystoma generoko animalia da. Anfibioen barruko Ambystomatidae familian sailkatuta dago, Caudata ordenan.
Ambystoma cingulatum Ambystoma generoko animalia da. Anfibioen barruko Ambystomatidae familian sailkatuta dago, Caudata ordenan.
Ambystoma cingulatum est une espèce d'urodèles de la famille des Ambystomatidae[1].
Cette espèce est endémique des plaines côtières du Sud-Est des États-Unis[1]. Elle se rencontre :
Ambystoma cingulatum mesure de 7,5 à 11,5 mm sans la queue et de 10 à 19 mm de longueur totale[2].
Ambystoma cingulatum est une espèce d'urodèles de la famille des Ambystomatidae.
De netsalamander[2] (Ambystoma cingulatum) is een salamander uit de familie molsalamanders (Ambystomatidae). De soort werd voor het eerst wetenschappelijk beschreven door Edward Drinker Cope in 1868. Oorspronkelijk werd de wetenschappelijke naam Amblystoma cingulatum gebruikt.[3]
Veel soorten molsalamanders lijken sprekend op elkaar maar deze soort is vaak eenvoudig te onderscheiden. De lichaamskleur bestaat uit een donkere tot zwarte basiskleur en een afstekende, witte nettekening van grillige vlekjes. Variatie is er ook; sommige exemplaren zijn helemaal zwart, en de flanken kunnen zowel zwart zijn als bedekt met vele witte vlekjes. De lengte is ongeveer 9 tot 13 centimeter en het lichaam is minder gedrongen dan bij andere soorten. De poten staan wat verder uit elkaar en ook de staart is langer; ongeveer de helft van de totale lengte. De salamander heeft 13 tot 16 costale groeven, gemiddeld 15.[4]
De habitat bestaat uit bossige gebieden, met name naaldbossen, waar de salamander op de bodem leeft tussen de bladeren en onder stenen en houtstapels. Alleen in bossen waar soorten uit het dennenbomen-geslacht Pinus groeien komt de salamander voor, en omdat deze bossen qua oppervlakte afnemen gaat het ook niet zo goed met de verspreiding van deze soort. De netsalamander komt voor in Noord-Amerika en leeft endemisch in het uiterst zuidoostelijke deel van de Verenigde Staten. De salamander komt alleen voor in een smalle strook rond de staat Florida, echter niet op het zuidelijke schiereiland hiervan.
De netsalamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) is een salamander uit de familie molsalamanders (Ambystomatidae). De soort werd voor het eerst wetenschappelijk beschreven door Edward Drinker Cope in 1868. Oorspronkelijk werd de wetenschappelijke naam Amblystoma cingulatum gebruikt.
Ambystoma cingulatum é uma espécie de anfíbio caudado pertencente à família Ambystomatidae. Endêmica dos Estados Unidos.
Ambystoma cingulatum é uma espécie de anfíbio caudado pertencente à família Ambystomatidae. Endêmica dos Estados Unidos.
Nätmönstrad mullvadssalamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) är ett stjärtgroddjur i familjen mullvadssalamandrar som finns i sydöstra USA.[2]
Den nätmönstrade mullvadssalamandern har ett mycket skiftande utseende, med ljusa, gråaktiga fläckar till linjer på en mörkare bakgrund, som ger ett frostat eller nätmönstrat intryck. Salamandern är liten, med en längd från 9 till 13 cm. Hanarna är något kortare, och har en något mera svullen kloak än honorna. Larverna har en mörkbrun ovansida, och en ljusbrun buksida. Längs ovansidan har de en strimma som först är gul, men sedan bleknar, och som kan behållas upp till ett år efter förvandlingen.[3]
Arten finns i sydöstra USA från södra South Carolina till norra och centrala Florida.[2]
Salamandern lever underjordiskt och visar sig endast i samband med kraftiga regnväder. Den livnär sig främst av insekter och daggmaskar.[3] Larvernas matvanor i det fria är inte kända, men i fångenskap tar de daggmask, små kräftdjur som gälbladfotingar (Anostraca) och märlkräftor samt mygglarver. Litet är känt om salamanderns aktivitet eftersom den till stor del lever underjordiskt, men det är troligt att den är aktiv under vintern.[4]
Leken sker i temporära vattensamlingar som diken, pölar i träsk och liknande, dit de vuxna djuren vandrar under regnväder eller efter sådana, när marken är mättad med fuktighet, mellan oktober och januari. Äggen läggs emellertid på låglänta landområden, antingen öppet på bar jord, eller dolda under nerfallna grenar, vissna löv, i mossa och liknande substrat.[4] Efter det att äggläggningsplatserna har vattenfyllts av höstregnen börjar äggen utvecklas, och kläcks efter ungefär 2 veckor. Larvutvecklingen tar 3 till 5 månader. De fullbildade djuren är könsmogna efter ett år, men parar sig vanligtvis inte förrän efter ytterligare ett år.[3]
Den nätmönstrade mullvadssalamandern är klassificerad som sårbar ("VU", underklassifiering "A2c"), framför allt på grund av habitatförlust genom skogsplantering, intensifierat jordbruk och byggnation. Utdikning och betesfångst kan också innebära hot.[2]
Nätmönstrad mullvadssalamander (Ambystoma cingulatum) är ett stjärtgroddjur i familjen mullvadssalamandrar som finns i sydöstra USA.
