Cumberland Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus abditus)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller
Caudata Culture
Amphibian Research & Monitoring Initiative - US Geological Survey
Herpetological Education & Research Project - North American Field Herping Association
Encyclopedia of Life

The Cumberland Dusky Salamander is our first example of really confusing salamander taxonomy. At one time, most of the round-tailed dusky salamanders in Tennessee were considered to be the Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). That species has since been chopped up into five species, all of which occur in Tennessee. The Cumberland Dusky Salamander is one of those five. It's known to live in Morgan, Cumberland, & Rhea counties, with a disjunct population on the west side of the Sequatchie Valley in Grundy County.

There is a population of round-tailed dusky salamanders in Coffee County that's been determined to be a new species. At the moment, based on its range, it would key out as the Cumberland Dusky Salamander, so that's why I'm mentioning it in this post. Unfortunately it hasn't been seen in a couple decades, so it may have actually gone extinct before anyone had a chance to determine exactly what it was.

Photos by Matthew Niemiller

Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
Wikipedia
Joyce Sun & Theodora Pinou - Western Connecticut State University
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
Hellbenders.org - Jeff Humphries
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

And you thought the amphiuma was scary-looking. Hellbenders, for all their hideousness, are completely harmless. Unfortunately a lot of fishermen don't know this and will sacrifice their tackle rather than handle one that they've accidentally caught.

Hellbenders have historically occurred all across Tennessee east of the Tennessee River, but they seem to be declining rapidly from a lot of areas. The best place to find them at this point is in some of the streams in the Smokies, although I have yet to see one in the wild. If you want to get a good look at one, your best bet is the Nashville Zoo.

The Hellbender is closely related to the Japanese Giant Salamander, which is the largest salamander in the world. Our little guys don't get that big, but, as American salamanders go, I think they're still pretty impressive :-)

Photos by Todd Pierson (top) & Matthew Niemiller (bottom)

Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries
NatureServe
Wikipedia
Center for Biodiversity Studies - Western Kentucky University
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

Time to get crackin' on salamanders! If you read this blog regularly, you'll notice that there will be a lot of salamanders. This isn't because salamanders are exceptionally awesome (even though they are). It's just because there are so darn many of them in this state.

Anyway, the Green Salamander is predominantly a Cumberland Plateau species, though they are known from a cedar glade in Wilson County. (I'm not sure specifically which glade it is, but it looks like it's in the Cedars of Lebanon area.) I've never seen one in the wild, probably because I've never done any legitimate salamandering in the Cumberlands.

Photos by Todd Pierson (top) & Matthew Niemiller (bottom)

Three-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma tridactylum)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
Wikipedia
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
NatureServe
eNature
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

The Three-toed Amphiuma is a very unique salamander that lives in West TN and looks more like an eel than anything else. In fact, if you look at the top link, you'll notice that the family is referred to as "conger eels". From what I've read, that was originally supposed to be "Congo eel" (like the country in Africa), but of course we're in the South, so it had to be properly redneck-ized. And thus "conger" was born.

Anyway, I have no personal experience with these critters, but I've heard they're quite ferocious. Sandy Echternacht (herpetology professor at UT) said that he or a colleague used to have one and they would "allow" people to feed it fish just so they could watch the unsuspecting victim get bitten. Fun times :-)

Photos by Matthew Niemiller (top) and E.R. Degginger (bottom)

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Wikipedia
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Texas Parks & Wildlife
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
United States Fish & Wildlife Service
NatureWorks - New Hampshire Public Television
Nature & Wildlife Photography - Matthew Niemiller

Yes, there are gators in Tennessee! Over the last few decades, they have gradually been expanding their range, and now they're becoming reasonably common in the southwesterly parts of the state. They don't do well with freezing temperatures though, so they probably won't be able to come much farther north or east. (In other words, don't expect to see one in Murfreesboro anytime soon.)

Needless to say, I have not seen one in Tennessee (only in Florida & North Carolina). I've never had an opportunity to do any herping in West TN, so that whole area is still very foreign to me. Also, I'm not sure why Austin Peay's atlas of reptiles in Tennessee doesn't have an entry for them. My guess is that the atlas just isn't complete yet.

Photos by Matthew Niemiller (top) & John White (bottom)

Northern Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)

Atlas of Reptiles in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
Wikipedia
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Wild Texas - Shannon Moore
National Zoological Park
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

The Northern Green Anole (not to be confused with the Cuban Green Anole that's introduced in Florida) is quite abundant in Florida, and has a fairly extensive range in Tennessee, but the only ones I've ever seen outside of Florida were in eastern North Carolina. They occur along the southern edge of Tennessee, Hardeman County east, as well as up the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Smokies. They actually seem to be more abundant in the Smokies than anywhere else in the state. (Or maybe they're just found more frequently there because that's where all the people are.)

Males have a bunch of loose pinkish-red skin on their throat and a bone that runs the length of the throat from the neck to the mouth. It's hinged at the mouth but free at the neck, so they can swing it down, extending the pinkish skin into a big long flap. This is how they signal their territories and attract women.

Photos by Max Feken (top) & Matthew Niemiller (bottom)

Smooth Softshell (Apalone mutica)

Atlas of Reptiles in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois
Iowa Reptiles & Amphibians - Jeff LeClere
Turtles of the World - Carl Ernst, Ruud Altenburg, & Roger Barbour
Wikipedia
Florida Turtles & Tortoises - Eric Holt
Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources

The Smooth Softshell is very similar to the more common and widespread Spiny Softshell (A. spinifera). The most notable difference is that the Spiny Softshell has little spines at the front of the carapace (the upper shell).

These guys are mostly found around Reelfoot Lake and along the northern half of the Tennessee River in West TN. There are also a couple random records from Pickett & Davidson counties.

I've never seen one of these in the wild. (In fact, the only wild softshell I've ever seen was a species that doesn't live in Tennessee.) Rumor has it that they pack a pretty nasty bite, so be careful if you ever come across one :-)

Photos by Todd Pierson (top) & Floyd Scott (bottom)

Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Wikipedia

University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Florida Museum of Natural History

South Carolina Reptiles & Amphibians - Gene Ott

Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

Atlas of Reptiles in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University

Copperheads are found basically all over the state. I've found them to be especially abundant at Cades Cove in the Smokies, but they seem to be pretty scarce here in the Central Basin (Nashville - Murfreesboro area). 

Generally speaking, the Copperhead's reputation as a dangerous snake far exceeds its actual capabilities. A typical bite will cause a lot of superficial internal bleeding, which results in a big scary-looking bruise around the site of the bite. There will also usually be some pretty significant swelling. At this point, the typical person rushes to the hospital, thinking they're going to die, but the bites almost always heal completely with no medical intervention. Antivenom is very dangerous, so hospitals don't administer it unless absolutely necessary. Put that together with the fact that Copperhead bites usually heal on their own, and the result is that the hospital will almost certainly do nothing more than give you hardcore painkillers. Of course, there are the occasional allergic reactions (just like with bee stings), and that's why you sometimes hear news reports of people being killed by copperheads. But that is extremely rare.

Photos by Matthew Niemiller (top) & James Harding (bottom)

Streamside Salamander (Ambystoma barbouri)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
Ohio Amphibians - Jeff Davis & Greg Lipps
Caudata Culture
Wikipedia
ARKive
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

The Streamside Salamander is my baby. Haha... I spent two of the best years of my life wading in very cold streams in Middle TN, counting eggs and looking for little baby salamanders. We now know that the species is found in Bedford County (a publication I've submitted) & Marshall County (which I will submit someday when it moves higher on my priority list), and it has since also been discovered in a couple other counties. I'll keep those to myself for now, for the sake of the discoverers, who may want to publish the findings :-)

In any case, the Streamside Salamander is the only species in its family that routinely breeds in streams. They breed in the winter because the streams dry up in the summer. This is actually vital for them because permanent streams would have fish in them, and fish like to eat baby salamanders.

Photos by Matt Niemiller (top) & Daniel Estabrooks (bottom)

Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans)

Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee - Austin Peay State University
Wikipedia
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
The Frogs & Toads of Georgia - Walter Knapp
AmphibiaWeb - University of California
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, United States Geological Survey
Tennessee Amphibians & Reptiles - Matthew Niemiller

The Northern Cricket Frog is widespread across Tennessee, though I have yet to see one in East TN. They're as common as dirt around streams in the Greater Nashville area, especially along the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail in Cheatham County. They come in two very distinct color forms. One is all brown, and the other has a bright neon green stripe down the back that almost looks like it was made with a highlighter. Their call is really cool; it sounds like someone knocking two small rocks together. (It doesn't sound like a cricket at all, so I'm not sure where the name came from.)


Photos by Matthew Niemiller (top) & James Beck (bottom)

Introduction

Hey everybody! Welcome to the new & improved Tennessee Herp of the Day blog! For a while now, I've been posting a herp of the day on my Facebook semi-regularly, in the hope of educating the general public about all the interesting critters that can be found right here in the great state of Tennessee. (I plan to also eventually do a bird of the day, mammal of the day, scary-looking insect of the day, etc.)

(Before I go any farther, I should clarify that "herp" is a slang word that's used whenever you're talking about reptiles & amphibians together. It's a really stupid word, but so far nobody has come up with anything better, so we're stuck with it.)

In any case, Tennessee has a pretty substantial diversity of reptiles & amphibians, which can be broken down like this:

22 species of frogs

57 species of salamanders

1 species of crocodile

17 species of turtles

10 species of lizards

37 species of snakes

Total: 144 species

(I should clarify that a few of those species are tentative, in that they've never been officially recorded from Tennessee but it's reasonably likely that they do occur here and just haven't been seen yet.)

As you can see, salamanders are where we really shine. I haven't looked this up to be sure, but I'd suspect Tennessee probably has the 2nd-highest number of salamander species of any state, behind North Carolina. We also have a lot of snakes, but our lizard representation is pretty weak.

OK, so how does this "herp of the day" thing work? My goal is to put up a post about one species each day, which will contain a photo or two, links to webpages with information on the species, and some personal comments of my own. If I stay on top of things, we can knock the whole thing out in 144 days, right? We'll see.

So that's that. I'll put up my first post later today. Have fun!