Arboreal salamander

The arboreal salamander (Aneides lugubris) is a species of climbing salamander. An insectivore, it is native to California and Baja California, where it is primarily associated with oak and sycamore woodlands, and thick chaparral.

Description
Aneides lugubris is 6.5 – SVL (snout-vent length), with plain purplish-brown coloring, usually spotted dorsally with gold or yellow, although it may also be unspotted. This salamander has longer and sharper teeth than many others within the group. The tail is prehensile. The juvenile is dark overall, clouded with greyish color and fine yellow speckling on the back. The male of this species can be distinguished by its broad triangular head, with the front teeth of the jaw extending beyond the bottom lip. A large adult can inflict a painful bite.

This species is an excellent climber and difficult to capture. It is nocturnal, spending daylight hours and dry periods in the cavities of oak trees, often with many other individuals of its species. Having their primary habitat being in the trees, Arboreal Salamanders have been observed to deliberately use their body as a means to protect themselves from falls. The Arboreal Salamander has shown the ability to use its limbs to glide or parachute when falling. This behavior has been observed in which the Arboreal Salamander uses its body to create a controlled and directional fall to minimize injury when climbing trees. This aerial behavior is thought to be the result of generations of salamanders having to adapt to falling from their habitat. A large adult can inflict a painful bite. Arboreal Salamanders hatch from eggs laid and guarded in burrows. Hatchling size is 24 mm SVL, age at maturity is 2.69 yr, and average adult age is 8–11 yr. Annual survival probability increases with age from 0.363 in age 0 to 0.783 in ages >4 yr.

Because they are plethodontid (plethodontidae) salamanders they are lungless and breathe through their skin and membranes in their mouth and throat. Consequently, they thrive in moist terrestrial habitats, limiting their terrestrial activity to periods of elevated humidity. They spend most of their time under leaf litter of the forest ground, and during summer inside tree cavities to stay moist. This species have relatively low rates of water loss, possibly because of their rapid water intake and postural adaptation of curled body and tightly coiled tail. They can produce sounds which have been compared to a faintly barking dog.

Subspecies

 * Farallon Island salamander – A. l. farallonensis (Van Denburgh, 1905)
 * A. l. lugubris (Van Denburgh, 1905)

These subspecies have been proposed in the past due to genetic and morphological differences, but they are not currently recognized.