Illinois Salamanders

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1. What is the smallest Illinois salamander?

294 answers

Four-toed salamander

169 votes

57.5%

Dusky salamander

36 votes

12.2%

Lesser siren

89 votes

30.3%

2. How many species of salamanders exist in Illinois?

300 answers

102 votes

34.0%

132 votes

44.0%

66 votes

22.0%

3. What unique feature do salamanders in the family Plethodontidae share?

291 answers

They have no lungs and breathe mostly through the skin and lining of the mouth.

180 votes

61.9%

Their skin is mildly toxic.

74 votes

25.4%

They are often active on the surface of the ground during daylight hours.

37 votes

12.7%

4. Of the three large salamanders, which is endangered in Illinois due to its former haunts of rock shoals in large creeks or rivers having been affected by siltation?

291 answers

Hellbender

187 votes

64.3%

Lesser siren

64 votes

22.0%

Tiger salamander

40 votes

13.7%

5. What unique feature do the mudpuppy and lesser siren share?

279 answers

A restricted diet of only earthworms.

9 votes

3.2%

They spend their entire lives in water and never lose the gills, tail fins and gill slits that they developed as larvae.

218 votes

78.1%

Both secrete a toxic substance produce by a gland near the anal opening that probably is intended to repel predatory fish.

52 votes

18.6%

6. Larvae of the smallmouth salamander (Ambystoma texanum) can be found in the ephemeral pools of springtime in Illinois along with larvae of frogs, especially Illinois chorus frogs (Pseudacris illinoensis). Which is true about baby smallmouth salamanders and baby frogs?

Photos by Patty Gillespie.

255 answers

As generalist predators, larval smallmouth salamanders eat mostly small aquatic invertebrates Hatchling and small tadpoles forage on suspended matter, organic debris, algae, and plant tissue.

181 votes

71.0%

Tadpoles take only one week to change into frogs while larval smallmouth salamanders metamorphose into terrestrial adults in about three months.

74 votes

29.0%

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