Pygmy Salamander - Ecology

Ecology

Desmognathus wrighti is typically a light brown color with a dorsal pigmentation pattern of inverted V’s in a darker brown. The salamander ranges from 35 mm to 55 mm and rarely exceeds 50 mm making it the smallest salamander in the genus Desmognathus. Pygmy salamanders are typically found at higher elevations. Adult salamanders are active at night and have been found up to one meter above the ground in vegetation. The pygmy salamander is the most terrestrial species of its genus. It lives in depressions in moss and leaf litter on the forest floors and is most often found in spruce-fir forests of high elevation. The salamander goes to seepages and stream banks for egg-laying in summer and early autumn.