Southern Zigzag Salamander vs. Southern Red-backed Salamander

They meet on wooded slopes in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama (Southern Red-backed records in 7 of the Southern Zigzag's one-degree squares); where they overlap the Southern Red-backed is striped and the Southern Zigzag usually is not. A: 17 to 18, rarely 19 (usually 18) in the Southern Zigzag Salamander; 19, rarely 18 or 20 (usually 19) in the Southern Red-backed Salamander. B: Broadly wavy, lobed or zigzag, with rounded bulges out to the sides in the Southern Zigzag Salamander; sharply saw-toothed: small, even teeth, one at each rib groove in the Southern Red-backed Salamander. C: A bright, high-contrast mix of black, white and red, orange or yellow, most on the chest and throat in the Southern Zigzag Salamander; dark grey to black, densely peppered with fine white or cream specks; rarely any red or yellow in the Southern Red-backed Salamander. Count the grooves between the front and hind legs. The belly settles the unstriped forms.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

More comparisons

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