Very similar to the closely related Western Tiger Salamander in size and appearance, but with presence of 15 to 58 (mean 30) yellow, orange, or dull olive spots or blotches on the back and sides between the front and hind limbs. The yellow spots seldom form elongated bars. The head, limbs, body, and tail are deep brown, dull black, or black, with spots, bars, or blotches of pale brownish olive, dusky yellow, yellow, or orange-yellow. Bars or blotches on the sides of the body may or may not extend onto the belly, which is black or dark gray and mottled with yellow. The chin is usually yellow. During the breeding season, females can be distinguished from males by their heavier bodies, and males have swollen cloacal lips. Females have slightly longer bodies than males, but males have proportionately longer tails than females.
Adults are normally 180-210 mm (7-8¼ inches) in total length. The largest adult specimen from Kansas is unknown. The maximum length throughout the range is 330.2 mm (13 inches) (Powell et al. 2016).
Most records were recorded from the Kansas River drainage basin east of Shawnee County. This is the least observably abundant salamander in Kansas.
They live underground most of the year and dig their own burrows, unlike most other species that utilize burrows of other animals. This allows them to escape the temperature extremes on the surface and may explain why they have such a wide array of habitat types. They are seldom reported in Kansas and persist in small localized populations.
After sufficient rains from December to March, this species seeks out a breeding site, generally permanent shallow lakes, ponds, ditches, or backwater pools along rivers in open prairie or wooded regions. According to Smith (1956), this amphibian does not appear to migrate to breeding sites like the Smallmouth Salamander. The length of the breeding season in Kansas is not known, but it probably lasts from one to three months. Courtship of the Tiger Salamander takes place in water and consists of males and females rubbing bodies with occasional 'nips' at each other. Much lashing about of bodies and tails may occur, and this "foreplay" eventually stimulates the male to swim in front of the female, who follows with her snout near his cloaca. The male deposits a spermatophore, which the female swims over and mounts with her cloaca! lips. According to Smith (1934, 1956), eggs are deposited singly or in small clumps of two or three and are attached to sticks and weed masses along the water's edge. A female can lay up to 1,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in a few weeks, and the gilled, pond type larvae may metamorphose into adults the same summer, overwinter until their second summer, or achieve sexual maturity as larvae and remain in that state their entire lives. This latter condition, called neoteny, usually occurs when terrestrial conditions are harsh and habitat for salamanders is minimal.
The Tiger Salamander is opportunistic in its feeding, preying
upon any animal small enough for it to swallow. Hartman (1906) removed aquatic insects, a
terrestrial insect, and mud from the stomachs of three larvae found in Kansas. He discovered an adult which had consumed a ground-beetle. Other food items reported for this species are earthworms, fishes, tadpoles, frogs, toads, other salamanders, and mice.
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