Mole salamanders range from southeast Alaska and southern Canada (Labrador in the east) southward to the Mexican Plateau. They spend much of their lives underground, coming to the surface to breed, usually early in the spring. Species that retain their gills as adults are said to be neotenic, that is juvenile traits are retained in the adult. Breeding ponds usually lack fish and are often ephemeral. These habitats are often the first to disappear as humans alter the landscape. The family contains two genera with about 35 species. Sever (1992, Journal of Morphology 212:305-322) suggested that Dicamptodon is the sister-taxon of Ambystoma based upon the morphology of cloacal glands.
Several ambystomid salamanders have larvae that are polymorphic, with the heads of some individuals growing faster than others. These have become known as "cannibal morphs," a phenomenon first reported in 1907, but was not studied in any detail until the 1980's. Cannibal morphs have a larger body size, broader head, and enlarged vomerine teeth compared to the normal morphs. This morphology allows the cannibals to consume larger prey than the normal morphs, and the cannibal morph's prey often consists of their siblings, conspecifics, or large prey of other types.
Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma annulatum Cope, 1886. Photograph of a captive. This species inhabits the Ozark Plateau and the Ouachita Mountains of Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Adults reach 180 mm.
Blue-Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma laterale Hallowell, 1856. Photographed in Monroe Co., Wisconsin. Adults reach 100 mm. It inhabits the northeastern USA and eastern Canada. This species hybridizes with Jefferson's Salamander (see below) over a large area of its distribution and the hybrids are often much larger.
Mabee's Salamander, Ambystoma mabeei Bishop, 1928. From Richmond Co. North Carolina. Mabee's Salamander inhabits the eastern coastal plain from Virginia to South Carolina. Adults may reach 100 mm.
The Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw, 1802). Photographed in Cook County, Illinois. Spotted Salamanders range from Nova Scotia and Manitoba, Canada southward to the Gulf Coast of the USA. It is a forest species, using forest ponds to reproduce. Adults can reach 248 mm.
Barred Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma m. mavortium Baird, 1850. From Falls River County, South Dakota (upper). And, the Gray Tiger Salamander, A. m. diaboli Dunn, 1940, from northeast Kansas (lower). Isolated populations can be found in eastern Washington (USA) and southern British Columbia (Canada). Otherwise it occurs from the Great Plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (Canada) southward through the Rocky Mountains from Utah to southeastern Arizona and eastward to South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and southward to South Texas and Chihuahua (Mexico). Adults may reach 327 mm.
The Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum. (Shaw and Nodder, 1798). Photographs of lab specimens. The Axolotl was original endemic to Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco and probably was in the connecting lakes of Texcoco and Zumpango in the Valley of Mexico. Currently it is known only from the southern remnants of Lake Xochimilco. Thomas Barbour wrote about these unsual animals in his 1926 book Reptiles & Amphibians:
"Urodele [=salamanders] amphibians exhibit occasionally a curious characteristic called neoteny; that is assuming sexual maturity during larval life. The edible axolotls of the lakes near Mexico City, often sold in the markets, are 'permanent larvae' and breed regualry in the gilled stage, never apparently transforming."
The Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst, 1807). Specimen from Wake County, North Carolina. Adults may reach 127 mm. Females lay eggs in depressions and attend eggs until the depression fills with water. Marble salamanders range from southern New Hampshire and New York, southward to northern Florida, eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas.
The Mole Salamander, Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838). Captive specimens from unknown localities. Adults may reach 122 mm. Inhabits the Gulf Coastal Plain from Texas to Florida and northward to southern Illinois and South Carolina. Isolated populations occur to the north of this region. Sherman Bishop wrote about this animal's habits in his 1943 book, Handbook of Salamanders, he said:
"Except during the breeding season, the adults are much given to burrowing and are only occasionally found beneath rotten wood in damp situations. In Louisiana, confined to areas of loose sand not affected by salt water....Strecker and Frierson...found an adult occupying a mole-like burrow on the east bank of Wallace Bayou, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Van Hyning...found larvae abundant in ditches and ponds near gainesville, Florida."
Eastern Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma t. tigrinum Green, 1825. Cook County, Illinois.
A winter killed Eastern Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma t. tigrinum Green, 1825. Cook County, Illinois.
Ambystomid egg mass. Cook County, Illinois.
This is most likely a hybrid salamander between A. laterale x jeffersonianum from an unknown locality. It was about 300 mm in total length.
