Eastern Tiger Salamander
Ambystoma tigrinum
Natural and Cultural History:
The Eastern Tiger Salamander is often found in the Eastern United States and some prarie states and provinces. Tiger Salamanders were once believed to inhabit Ontario due to one specimen taken from Point Pelee in Southern Ontario in 1915, no other Eastern Tiger Salamanders were found in the province making the specimen highly suspect. If the individual was in Ontario by natural means it is likely to be a transient individual that migrated there by accident.
This species of Tiger Salamander's range extends over North and South Dakota, over the traditional land of the Lakota Peoples. Within this area, salamanders have played a role in Lakota navigation, imagery and other forms of traditional knowledge. For the Lakota Peoples, constellations allowed them to navigate over the great plains and helped determine when to do each ceremony. One of these constellations was; Agleshka, meaning salamander, this constellation represents the power that a baby boy has in the world, both seen in his potential power and the power he has as preserved at birth. This constellation can be found in the north-west within what Europeans would call the Cygnus constellation or the swan (Giese, 1996).
Tiger Salamanders are often kept as pets and some times captive individuals can carry Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (B-sal). B-sal is a species of fungi originally from Asia which has colonized areas of Europe and North America where it has caused large die offs of wild salamanders. The fungi feeds on the salamander's skin and hinders their ability to breath properly. Tiger Salamanders are immune to B-sal due to the peptides they produce and act as carriers to different populations.
Tiger Salamanders are a species of Mole Salamander which means that they spend a large amount of time underground until they migrate to the surface to breed. Breeding occurs in vernal pools where they can safely breed usually safe from large predators. Their larval forms are small with flattened tails used to swim and external gills that help to absorb oxygen from the water. In some instances, neotenic individuals arise where instead of metamorphosing into their terrestrial form they stay in their larval form much like the closely related Axolotl. Its because of their similarities to the Axolotl that they are often interbreed in captivity creating the golden albino axolotl morph. metamorphosis occurs at different ages depending on climate, northern populations of Eastern Tiger Salamanders tend to metamorphosis as soon as they are able to while southern populations tend to wait until they are roughly the size of an adult before leaving the water. This is because many breeding ponds in the north tend to freeze over more frequently than those in the south so the larvae develop quickly to avoid the freeze.
While Eastern Tiger Salamanders have been known to hybridize within the unisexual complex, they are also part of the Tiger Salamander complex. Originally tiger salamanders were all categorized as the same species but with variations within populations as there is no clear range between them. It has been found that there are instead both different species of Tiger Salamander along with different subspecies although differentiating between them is difficult as they tend to hybridize frequently. This is due to the lack of any clear physical boundary between populations.
Although they appear dopy and look "muppet-like" on land, Tiger Salamanders are ferocious predators and will thrash earth worms around before eating, engulf insects and swallow small vertebrate animals. They have poor eyesight and will ultimately feed on whatever moves by their mouth which can sometimes be inedible objects such as paper towel in captive specimens and even prey much larger then themselves.
The Eastern Tiger Salamander is often found in the Eastern United States and some prarie states and provinces. Tiger Salamanders were once believed to inhabit Ontario due to one specimen taken from Point Pelee in Southern Ontario in 1915, no other Eastern Tiger Salamanders were found in the province making the specimen highly suspect. If the individual was in Ontario by natural means it is likely to be a transient individual that migrated there by accident.
This species of Tiger Salamander's range extends over North and South Dakota, over the traditional land of the Lakota Peoples. Within this area, salamanders have played a role in Lakota navigation, imagery and other forms of traditional knowledge. For the Lakota Peoples, constellations allowed them to navigate over the great plains and helped determine when to do each ceremony. One of these constellations was; Agleshka, meaning salamander, this constellation represents the power that a baby boy has in the world, both seen in his potential power and the power he has as preserved at birth. This constellation can be found in the north-west within what Europeans would call the Cygnus constellation or the swan (Giese, 1996).
Tiger Salamanders are often kept as pets and some times captive individuals can carry Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (B-sal). B-sal is a species of fungi originally from Asia which has colonized areas of Europe and North America where it has caused large die offs of wild salamanders. The fungi feeds on the salamander's skin and hinders their ability to breath properly. Tiger Salamanders are immune to B-sal due to the peptides they produce and act as carriers to different populations.
Tiger Salamanders are a species of Mole Salamander which means that they spend a large amount of time underground until they migrate to the surface to breed. Breeding occurs in vernal pools where they can safely breed usually safe from large predators. Their larval forms are small with flattened tails used to swim and external gills that help to absorb oxygen from the water. In some instances, neotenic individuals arise where instead of metamorphosing into their terrestrial form they stay in their larval form much like the closely related Axolotl. Its because of their similarities to the Axolotl that they are often interbreed in captivity creating the golden albino axolotl morph. metamorphosis occurs at different ages depending on climate, northern populations of Eastern Tiger Salamanders tend to metamorphosis as soon as they are able to while southern populations tend to wait until they are roughly the size of an adult before leaving the water. This is because many breeding ponds in the north tend to freeze over more frequently than those in the south so the larvae develop quickly to avoid the freeze.
While Eastern Tiger Salamanders have been known to hybridize within the unisexual complex, they are also part of the Tiger Salamander complex. Originally tiger salamanders were all categorized as the same species but with variations within populations as there is no clear range between them. It has been found that there are instead both different species of Tiger Salamander along with different subspecies although differentiating between them is difficult as they tend to hybridize frequently. This is due to the lack of any clear physical boundary between populations.
Although they appear dopy and look "muppet-like" on land, Tiger Salamanders are ferocious predators and will thrash earth worms around before eating, engulf insects and swallow small vertebrate animals. They have poor eyesight and will ultimately feed on whatever moves by their mouth which can sometimes be inedible objects such as paper towel in captive specimens and even prey much larger then themselves.