138 



VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



Family 2. Pleurodelidae. — Body of medium size; teeth on the 

 maxillaries and premaxillaries; vomerine teeth in 2 longitudinal series, 

 converging anteriorly; vertebrae opisthocoelous; carpus and tarsus 

 ossified; lungs and ypsiloid cartilage present; no naso-labial groove: 

 about 10 genera, all in the old world, one of which is represented in 

 America. 



Triturus Rafinesque {Diemyctylus Raf.). Newts. Tongue at- 

 tached by nearly its whole lower surface ; digits 4-5 : about 1 2 species in 

 Europe. Asia and America, 4 species in the United States. These 

 salamanders can float in water without swimming movements, because 

 of their lungs. 



Key to the American Species of Triturus 



ai Species east of the Rockies. 



bi Red markings on the side of the body. 



Ci Circular, black-edged red spots on the sides T. v. viridescens. 



Co A continuous or broken red line edged with black, on the 



side T. V. symmetrica. 



h-2 No red markings present; on the Gulf coastal plain T. louisianensis. 



dii Species west of the Rockies T. torosus. 



T. viridescens Raf. Spotted salamander; newt (Fig. 66). Body of 



adult elongate; tail with a prominent 

 keel above and below; color olive 

 green above, yellowish beneath, 

 sprinkled everywhere with black 

 dots except on the belly, and with 

 a row of 2 to 6 or more round red 

 black-edged spots on the side of the 

 trunk; length 90 mm.; tail 44 mm.: 

 eastern and central States and 

 Canada, from Hudson Bay to Florida 

 and Texas; westward to Wisconsin 

 and Oklahoma; common. The adult 

 animals are aquatic, living in ponds 

 and streams containing vegetation. 

 The eggs are few in number and are 

 attached separately to vegetation. 

 There are two larval stages, in the 

 T7 ^ AA 1 A ^\. ^u f T •, first of which the animal is aquatic. 



Fig. 66. — Inside the mouth of Triturus ^ ' 



viridescens: i, inner nares; 2, vomerine with gills and the COlor of the adult, 

 teeth; 3, tongue (/row Hoy). ,. . ^ • j. • ^ i. • ^ 



and in the second it is terrestrial, 

 without gills and bright red in color and smaller in size, but is spotted 



