Life History: Spring salamanders breed in the fall, during this time, the male deposits a spermatophore which the female will retain and use to fertilize her eggs the following spring. Come spring, the female will lay between 11-100 eggs under submerged rocks in spring fed streams. In mid summer, the eggs will hatch and small larva will emerge, spring salamanders will stay in their larval stage for up to six years in some populations. Their genus Gyrinophilus translates to "tadpole lover" in reference to the large amount of time spent as larva compared to most other salamander species.
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Range: Northern spring salamanders can be found as far north as Quebec, following the Appalachian Mountains south into Georgia and Alabama in the United States. It was also believed that spring salamanders used to be found in Ontario with three individuals collected on the Niagara Peninsula in April of 1877. These individuals are subject to controversy as two have gone missing and the only remaining one, specimen #1370 kept at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, is in too poor condition for an accurate identification. Part of the tail is missing, the skin ripped and the head did not preserve well leading some to speculate it could instead be a related species such as the northern red salamander whose range is closer to the American boarder.
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Sources:
"Herpetology A-1370 Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus." Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University , 2021. MCZBASE: The Database of the Zoological Collections, mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Herp:A-1370. Accessed 9 Oct. 2021. Jahnke, Stephanie. "Gyrinophilus porphyriticus Spring Salamander." Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2001, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Gyrinophilus_porphyriticus/. Accessed 9 Oct. 2021. Mills, Peter B. Metamorphosis. self-published, 2016, p. 98. |