Amphibians

Salamanders

eNature.com

Online Guide of Amphibians in the United States and Canada

Center for North American Herpetology

Salamanders, never the swiftest nor the most wide ranging of vertebrates, are given to the formation of isolated populations. Salamander systematics has recent taken to treating these isolated populations as separate species based primarily on differences in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA, but without actual demonstrations of reproductive (versus geographical) isolation. Therefore the species level systematics of the salamanders is in some disarray with a rapidly increasing number of recognized "species". The combination of the three websites on the left should alleviate some of these problems.

The first two sites between them cover most of the North American species. The CNAH website contains the most up-to-date list of the currently recognized species as well as photographs of many of the species. Clicking on any of these three website will open that site in a separate browser window. To leave any of these web sites orNearctica, simply close the respective window.
Other Notable Salamander and Newt Links

Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network. A marvelous site on the frogs and salamanders of Canada. There are pages on all of the frogs and salamanders of Canada with photographs, biologies, distributions, and calls (for the frogs, of course). You can take as general tour by province, or identifying your specimens with their key. There is information about amphibian biology and a test your can take. Highly recommended.

National Amphibian Atlas. Pautuxent Wildlife Research Center, USGS. Detailed distribution maps for the Reptile and Amphibian species of North America.

Tree of Life - Salamanders. Allan Larson. This site is based on a phylogenetic tree for the Caudata (Urodela) (salamanders and newts). There are photographs of most of the families as well as a general discussion of the group, its systematics, and a short bibliography.

Herps of Texas. Lori Bockstanz, Texas Memorial Museum. This is a great site with photographs of, and information about, the salamanders of Texas.

Nova Scotia Salamanders. Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. Photographs and information on the salamanders of Nova Scotia with identification aids.

Salamanders of North Carolina. Davidson College. Photographs and information on salamanders found in North Carolina.

Salamanders of South Carolina and Georgia. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. Photographs and information on the salamanders of these two states.