Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family
Description 3-5 1/4" (7.6-13.3 cm). Slim, long-legged climbing salamander, with expanded, squarish-tipped toes. Two color phases: uniformly dark brown above; or brown "clouded" with greenish-gray, ash, or coppery blotches. Belly whitish to brownish, with white flecking. Costal grooves, 16-17.
Breeding Late spring to early summer; lays 8-17 eggs singly on roof or side of cavity in rotting log or under bark. Eggs are suspended separately on mucus stalks, sometimes get tangled. Female guards eggs, which hatch fall to early winter.
Habitat Humid coastal redwood, Douglas fir, and Port Orford cedar forests; frequents margins of clearings. To 5,400' (1,646 m) in w. slopes of Cascades.
Range Coastal California and Oregon, from Mendocino County to Columbia River; Vancouver Island.
Discussion These agile climbers are seen 20 feet (7 m) and higher in trees. They spend the dry season deep within logs. May be abundant in clearings, where they hide under bark of standing or fallen trees, in talus piles, or in moist rock crevices.
