Mole Salamander
Ambystoma talpoideum
(click image to enlarge)

Appearance: The most striking characteristic of the Mole Salamander is the disproportionately large, round head.  Fully grown adults usually measure four inches in length and are very stocky. Coloration is generally bland: ground color is usually gray, brown, or black, and the sides may sometimes be flecked with small amounts of blue or silver.

Habits and Habitat: The Mole Salamander is a highly fossorial salamander, inhabiting the wet soils of forested wetlands, floodplain forests, or the ecotone upland forests of the Southeast.  Suitable breeding habitats include a variety of small bodies of water including vernal pools, roadside ditches and other temporary wetlands and fish-free permanent wetlands. Gilled adult forms ("neotenes") may persist in permanent wetlands.

Reproduction/Egg Description: In most parts of their range, Mole Salamanders breed during the winter months, traveling to the breeding sites over land in late fall or early winter.  Females usually deposit small egg masses on twigs and other submerged vegetation, although in some populations single egg deposition has been observed. Eggs are darkly pigmented above and white below.

Distribution and Abundance: Mole Salamanders inhabit the southeastern United States from east Texas eastward along the Gulf of Mexico to South Carolina. The range extends up the Mississippi Valley to southern Illinois, and disjunct populations occur in Virginia and North Carolina. Although the current status of the Mole Salamander is largely unknown, many populations are experiencing habitat loss due to development and timber management.

SE ARMI Index Sites: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.