Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

AMPHIBIA (Amphibians) CAUDATA (Salamanders) AMBYSTOMATIDAE (Mole Salamanders)

SPOTTED SALAMANDER
Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw, 1802)
ăm-bĭs-tō-mă — măk-ū-lā-tŭm

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: SNA - Not Applicable
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None

Diagnosis:
The dorsal ground color can be black, gray or brown on its back. The belly is gray to light blue. Down each side of the back, there are two rows of orange and/or yellow spots. They have 12 costal grooves.
Spotted Salamanders reach 6 to 9.5 inches (150-240 mm) in total length. The longest known specimen was 9 3/4 inches (248 mm) (Powell et al. 2016).

Distribution:
Known only from a Douglas County specimen (KU 950; locality to the county only) collected in 1916 and a specimen from Shawnee County (SDSNH 62926) no date. Both records are doubtful and certainly in need of corroboration. Hall and Smith (1947) report a specimen collected in Crawford County, but a catalog number is not provided and the identification cannot be verified.
Native populations may ultimately be discovered in Cherokee, Linn, or Miami counties.
(, Museum Voucher) (, Observation) (, Literature Record) (, iNat Record)
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Occurrence Summary:
3
Records
2
Museum Vouchers
1
Other Observations

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Crawford (1); Douglas (1); Shawnee (1);

Natural History:
The Spotted Salamander is nocturnal, spends most of its time underground or undercover, and is rarely seen except during breeding seasons. In neighboring states, they breed in the early spring when adults migrate from cover to pools during winter rains. They exhibit courtship breeding patterns and internal fertilization. Females lay large clumps of up to 200 eggs in shallow pools, often associated with algae. There is believed to be a symbiotic relationship between the algae and the salamander, where the algae are provided with a safe place to live and grow and in turn, algae produce oxygen, which is needed for the embryonic development of the larvae. Eggs hatch in four to eight weeks and larvae metamorphose in two to four months. Adults can live for two decades

Occurrence Activity:
White dates indicate there is at least a single recorded occurrence on that date. The darker blue a date is, the greater the relative number of observations for that date.

Remarks:
This taxon was first reported from Kansas by Cragin 1880, though Smith (1934) stated "Cragin's report of 1881 [sic] was based upon Jordan's Manual of Vertebrates, and neither author, it is likely, had actually seen specimens from Kansas.".
Smith(1934) gave detailed measurements and descriptions of the Douglas County specimen (KU 950). Hall and Smith (1947) give measurements for their Crawford County observation.
Smith (1950, 1956) considered this species a member of the state herpetofauna based on the records from Douglas and Crawford counties.

Bibliography:

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1802	Shaw, George General zoology or systematic natural history. Volume 3. G. Kearsley, London, U. K.. 615pp. Original descriptions of the Rana catesbeiana (=Lithobates catesbeianus) page 106, Lacerta maculata (=Ambystoma maculatum) page 304, and Coluber flagellum (=Masticophis flagellum) page 475.
1880	Cragin, Francis W. A preliminary catalogue of Kansas reptiles and batrachians Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 7():112-123 Also listed the Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea) [=Ophibolus doliatus var. coccineus] and Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) [=Spelerpes ruber] from Kansas.
1933	Brumwell, Malcolm J. Distributional records of the reptilia and amphibians of Kansas. Privately printed, . 22pp. County dot maps of the Kansas herpetofauna. This work has been attributed to have been written around 1933, but that may be in error.
1933	Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas Thesis. University of Kansas, Lawrence. 383pp. The first full accounting of the twenty-five species of amphibians known to occur in Kansas. Includes Ambystoma maculatum which is currently not included in the Kansas faunal list.
1934	Smith, Hobart M. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527 The formal publication of Hobart Smith's Master's Thesis (Smith 1933), though there are several updated and additions. In addition to the species accounts for all twenty-five species, the paper includes a history of amphibian biology in Kansas and discussions on taxonomy and physiography.
1947	Hall, Henry H. and Hobart M. Smith Selected records of reptiles and amphibians from southeastern Kansas Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 49(4):447-454 Report on certain Kansas specimens housed in the collection at what is now Pittsburg State University. Included are several species of dubious status today, including Cryptobranchus alleganiensis from the Neosho and Spring rivers (the only specimens from those significant drainages ever documented), Ambystoma maculatum from just north of Pittsburg, Crawford County, Heterodon nasicus from Crawford County, Opheodrys vernalis from Crawford County, Sonora episcopa from Crawford County, Agkistrodon piscivorus from Cherokee County, Crotalus atrox from Crawford County, and Crotalus viridis from Crawford County. They report several significant range extensions including Kinosternon flavescens from Turkey Creek in southeast Cherokee County, Graptemys geographica from just north of Pittsburg, Crotaphytus collaris from near Columbus, Cherokee County, Sceloporus consobrinus from just north of Pittsburg, Phrynosoma cornutum from Cherokee and Crawford counties, Heterodon platirhinos from Cherokee and Crawford counties, Haldea striatula from Crawford County, Sistrurus tergeminus from Crawford County, and a 402 lb Macrochelys temminckii in Cherokee County from just east of Chetopa (Labette County). They allude to the potential for Anaxyrus fowleri to occur in southeast Kansas and for native populations of Crotalus atrox in south central Kansas (in part from the disclosure that John R. Breukelman [then of ESU] had obtained three specimens in Woods County Oklahoma, 3/4 of a mile south of the Kansas line). None of the specimens the paper was based on, exist today.
1950	Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publication (2):336 The first modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table and text say 97 on p. 10) and 13 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies.
1951	Brumwell, Malcolm J. An ecological survey of the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation American Midland Naturalist 45(1):187-231 Published posthumously. Lieutenant Brumwell died December 14, 1941, as a result of injuries incurred during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This paper is a condensed version of his thesis for the Master's degree.
1953	Schmidt, Karl P. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp. Schmidt's first edition of his standardized checklist to North American amphibians and reptiles. Includes several specific references to Kansas in the range descriptions.
1956	Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. Second edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication (9):1-356 Hobart M. Smith's updated second edition of his first (1950) modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table says 97 on p. 10; text says 98 on p. 10) and 11 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies. The second edition has updated taxonomy, added Plestiodon laticeps, and removed Eurycea tynerensis.
1967	Anderson, James D. Ambystoma maculatum. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (51):1-4
1969	Tihen, Joseph A. Ambystoma. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (75):1-4
1974	Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (1):283 pp Joseph T. Collins first Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Smith 1956)>
1975	Holman, J. Alan. Herpetofauna of the WaKeeney local fauna (Lower Pliocene: Clarendionian) of Trego County, Kansas. Papers on Paleontology, University of Michigan 1974(12):49-66
1977	Rundquist, Eric M. and Joseph T. Collins. The amphibians of Cherokee County, Kansas. Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 12pp.
1978	Curl, Richard L. Final Environmental Statement: Milford Lake Kansas operation and maintenance. US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District. 158pp. Notable mentions: Spotted Salamander, Smooth Green Snake
1982	Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. 2nd edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (8): Joseph T. Collins second Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1974)>
1983	Ireland, Patrick H. and Ronald Altig. Key to the gilled salamander larvae and larviform adults of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Southwestern Naturalist 28(3):271-274
1984	Altig, Ronald and Patrick H. Ireland. A key to salamander larvae and larviform adults of the United States and Canada. Herpetologica 40(2):212-218
1991	Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1993	Collins, Joseph T. and Suzanne L. Collins. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. Third Edition. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Lawrence. 397pp. Joseph T. Collins third Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1982)>
1998	Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
2006	Taggart, Travis W. Distribution and status of Kansas herpetofauna in need of information. State Wildlife Grant T7. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. vii + 106pp.
2010	Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of Kansas Eagle Mountain Publishing., Provo, Utah. 400pp. Joseph T. Collins fourth Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1993)>
2016	Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. 494pp.
2020	Daniel, Richard E. and Brian S. Edmond. Atlas of Missouri Amphibians and Reptiles for 2019. Privately printed, Columbia, Missouri. 86pp.

Account Last Updated:
5/24/2021 1:17:32 PM