Plethodon dorsalis
Cope, 1889
Union Co., Illinois. October 3, 1983.
In some places, you can find dorsalis that look identical to a redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus), that is, with no zigs or zags. The next rock over may shelter a ‘leadback’ morph of the zigzag, with no pattern and a dark grey color with silvery grey flecks. Salamander identification is difficult at best, and sometimes all you can do is rely on the range maps in your field guide. Pictured here are a classic dorsalis and a ‘marbled leadback’ phase, both from southern Indiana.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
