Backyard salamander

I found this little salamander in my basement stairwell, a damp, mossy place. It's a Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), only a couple of inches long. While these little guys seem pretty insignificant at first glance, they are so abundant that they are a major portion of the animal biomass in the forests where they live, equal to the weight of all the mammals in the same habitat.

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A slightly closer view of the same salamander

These were shot on a Nikon D80 with a Nikkor 18-135mm, built in flash.

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John Agnew said:

While these little guys seem pretty insignificant at first glance, they are so abundant that they are a major portion of the animal biomass in the forests where they live, equal to the weight of all the mammals in the same habitat.

Cool shots John. I had no idea that these guys were abundant. I wonder how they are able to thrive when generally amphibian populations are doing so poorly?

Jim