''Pseudotriton'' is a genus of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

s in the family

Plethodontidae Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. With over 500 species, lungless salamanders are by far the largest family of salamanders in terms of their diversity. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from B ...

. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to eastern and southern United States, from New York south to Florida and west to southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and eastern Louisiana. They are commonly known as red salamanders or mud salamanders.

Species

The number of species depends on the source. The Amphibian Species of the World lists the following four species: * '' Pseudotriton diastictus'' Bishop, 1941 — midland mud salamander * '' Pseudotriton flavissimus'' (Hallowell, 1856) — Gulf Coast mud salamander * '' Pseudotriton montanus'' Baird, 1850 —

mud salamander The mud salamander (''Pseudotriton montanus'') is a bright red salamander of the family Plethodontidae. It is found in streams, seeps and swamps and underneath logs, rocks and leaves. It is endemic to the eastern half of the United States with one ...

* '' Pseudotriton ruber'' (Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801) —

red salamander The red salamander (''Pseudotriton ruber'') is a species of salamander in the family (Plethodontidae) (lungless salamanders) endemic to the Eastern United States. Its skin is brown, orange or red with random black spots. Semiaquatic adults and a ...

However, AmphibiaWeb lists only two species as it treats ''Pseudotriton diastictus'' and ''P. flavissimus'' as

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''Pseudotriton montanus'', as does the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

References

Amphibians of North America Endemic amphibians of the United States Extant Pleistocene first appearances Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Plethodontidae-stub