Alternate name: Appalachian Woodland Salamander, Red-cheeked Salamander

Family: Plethodontidae, Lungless Salamanders view all from this family

Description 3 1/4-7 1/4" (8.3-18.4 cm). Usually black above, gray below; most with bright red cheek patches; may have small white spots on sides and cheeks. No red on back, except for an occasional spot in young; no back stripe. Chin light. Costal grooves, 16.

Breeding Courts late July to August. Egg-laying probably occurs in late spring in underground cavities. No aquatic larval stage. Young hatch in fall, appear on surface following spring.

Habitat Humid, heavily forested slopes, with moss-covered logs and slabs of rock; most populations live at higher elevations; 700-6,400' (213-1,951 m).

Range Extreme w. North Carolina into extreme e. Tennessee.

Discussion Herpetologists have revised the classification of the extensively variable Appalachian Woodland Salamander, formerly known as the P. jordani complex, and now consider it to be several separate species, including: A. jordani, of the Great Smokies, usually dark with red cheeks; A. shermani, the Red-legged Salamander of the Nantahala Mountains (Georgia-North Carolina border region); and P. metcalfi, the Southern Gray-cheeked Salamander, found from extreme sw. North Carolina into nw. South Carolina and adjacent n. Georgia, which varies from plain black with gray cheeks and underside to black with copious brassy speckling above. Occasionally Jordan's Salamander hybridizes with the closely related Slimy Salamander. Active April to November, it is usually seen well away from water, under rotting logs, flat stones, or at night at the entrance of small burrow holes. The cheek patches are mimicked by the Imitator Salamander. When moved 500' from its retreat, this salamander can find its way home.