Interestingly, Desmognathus ochrophaeus females will accept eggs belonging to another female and will attend to the new clutch and take care of it as if it were her own. During this time she will rarely forage for food. A female will remain in her nesting cavity for a period from 52-69 days, attending her eggs with antipredator and antipathogenic behaviors. The female will then lay 3-27 eggs either singly, in pairs, or in clusters in a small cavity, which she hollows out in soil under moss, or in moss above shallow running water. After a certain period the ova are fertilized and gestate for about 3 months, before she lays her eggs. The sperm can be stored within her body from 1-2 years. The female will store the sperm from fall and spring inseminations until late spring or summer. The male deposits sperm packets (spermatophores) on the ground, which the female takes into her vent. Fertilization for Desmognathus ochrophaeus is internal. Usually, during the months of April, September, and October, courtship and spermatophore deposition take place. Salamanders of this species breed during spring and fall. (Bishop 1943 Amphibians of Canada 2000 The Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service 2001). Upon hatching they are equipped with short white gills that are retained for a short while. They have a light stripe extending from their eyes to their tail, flanked by a darker line of pigmentation. The larvae of these salamanders are about 17 mm long. The top of their heads are dark and their bellies are light. They have a yellow dorsal band bordered by a dark brown stripe that stretches over the tail. Juvenile Desmognathus ochrophaeus are dorsally spotted. Females have vomerine teeth, whereas males lose them when they reach about 65-75 mm in length. However males are 12% larger than females, have a darker body and a more curved jaw margin than females. In general, the males and females of this species resemble one another. The sides of the tail are black and there is a lighter grayish brown dorsal band on their bodies. As adults age, the central spots become darker, making these chevrons harder to notice. The dorsal stripe is sometimes marked by rows of dark chevron-like spots. This stripe can be yellow, orange, olive, gray, brown or red, and is flanked by darker pigmentation that is mottled and fade into the lightly pigmented belly. Both adults and juveniles have a straight light-colored stripe down the back and tail. In many, a light line extends from the eye to the bottom of the jaw. Most adults are plainly colored but others are brightly colored. The eyelids fit under a fold of skin behind the eyes. The salamanders of this species have long slender bodies and tapered tails. If you were to look for Desmognathus ochrophaeus, you would most likely find it near wet rock faces, springs, woodlands, seepage areas and streams, and under stones, logs and leaves where the ground is wet (Amphibians of Canada 2000).ĭesmognathus ochrophaeus have moderately long, well-developed legs and come in a variety of colors, markings, and body proportions. This biome consists of deciduous trees and widely varying temperatures (-30 degrees Celsius in the winter to +30 degrees Celsius in the summer.) Precipitation in this biome is relatively high and evenly distributed throughout the year. There is a small population in extreme southeastern Quebec, Canada, in the foothills of the Adirondacks, and a few isolated populations in northeast Kentucky and west-central Georgia (Conant and Collins 1998).Īdult Desmognathus ochrophaeus tend to be relatively stationary and stays within a 1 meter radius in the temperate forest biome. The Mountain Dusky Salamander, Desmognathus ochrophaeus, can be found in the forested foothills and peaks of the Adirondack and Applachian Mountains of the United States.
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