BATRACHIANS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 163 



Plethodon and Hemidactylinm, undergo their metamorphosis in 

 damp places under stones or logs in the woods. The young of 

 these possess branching gills when hatched, but the gills are 

 absorbed within a few days. 



In the vivarium, many of the salamanders may be kept for 

 observation by providing them with some three inches of damp 

 Sphagnum moss, over which have been placed strips of old bark. 

 The moss should be kept very damp. Ant lar\'ae, the grubs of the 

 smaller wood-boring beetles and small earthworms serv^e as food. 



If these creatures were provided with scales like the reptiles, 

 the making of a popular key for identification would be simple. 

 There is, however, among most salamanders a peculiar unifomiity 

 of external surface and general structure. Technical divisions of 

 the Urodela are founded upon the arrangement of the teeth, the 

 anatomical structure of the tongue, the shape of the tail and the 

 development of the toes. In the preparation of the following 

 key, however, the writer has relied upon the few characters that 

 appeal to an obsei^^er not versed in technical terms. The char- 

 acters employed pertain to variation of outline, where such exists, 

 size and color-pattern. In our local fauna four families, com- 

 prising twelve species and two varieties, are represented. These 

 are, the Amblystomid.^, represented by Amblysioma opaciim, 

 A. tigrimmi, A. punciatum; the Plethodontid^, Plethodon 

 glutinosus, P. cinereus, P. cinereus erythronotus , Hemidactylium 

 scutatiim, Spelerpes ruber, S. bilineatus, S. longicauda; the 

 Desmognathid^e, Desmognathus jusca, D. ocroplicsa; the Pleu- 

 RODELiD^, Diemyctylus viridescens, D. viridescens miniatus. 



Key to the Salamanders. 



a. Form stout, size large. 



I. Tail flattened towards the tip. 

 Black, marbled with grayish 



white blotches Marbled Salamander (Amblystoma opacum). 



Black, marbled with yellow, 



the yellow predominating. . . Tiger ^Salamander (Amblystoma tigrinum). 

 Black, two rows of yellow 



spots, black predominating. Spotted Salamander (Amblystoma punc- 



tatum). 

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