The Long-tailed Salamander is characterized by a very slender body, 14 or fewer vertical grooves on each side of the body between the front and hind limbs, and dark areas on each side of the body running from the snout onto the tail. The back and head are brownish yellow to bright yellow. Black spots on the back may be arranged in a double row or scattered irregularly. The upper part of the tail is yellowish with few or no black spots. The sides of the body from the snout onto the tail are dark brown or black, but this color fades toward the lower underside of the body and the belly is dull white. During the breeding season, females have heavier bodies than males, and males develop swollen snouts.
Adults normally 92-159 mm (3¼- 6¼ inches) in total length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a female (KU 51690) from Cherokee County with a snout-vent length of 55 mm and a total length of 143 mm (55⁄8 inches), collected by John M. Legler on 10 May 1958. The maximum length throughout the range is 197 mm (71⁄2 inches) (Powell et al. 2016).
This species is known from the Ozark Plateau in extreme southeastern Cherokee County. They are most often found near cool streams and spring seeps in forested uplands and hillsides. They are common within the twilight zones of caves and sometimes venture deep within them. The larvae are most commonly encountered in streams through forested uplands.
Long-tailed Salamanders are nocturnal and leave their refugia (under rocks or in fissures or caves) to forage at night, especially after rains where you may find them on damp leaves, rock faces, tree trunks, or even on roads during these forays. Eggs laid in wet underground crevices in late summer or autumn. Hatchlings appear in late winter or early spring and larvae transform in summer. Transformed individuals feed on small terrestrial invertebrates.
The Long-tailed Salamander is active throughout
the year and spends its time along
streams, under the ground, or in caves, depending on the temperature
and available moisture. Smith (1932) captured this species under rocks
at the edge of a spring-fed pool in Cherokee County. Collins (1974) collected
this creature during March and August beneath rocks along the
edge of a small, intermittent, man-made stream that flows from a cave
in Cherokee County. Rundquist and Collins (1977) reported the larvae
of this salamander as abundant in a cave stream in the same county.
Irwin (1980) observed eight sub-adult examples in Schermerhorn Cave
in Cherokee County in late December. Collins (1982) reported seven
adults active along the walls of a moist cave tunnel on top of a ridge in
Cherokee County on 16 March. Collins (1982) observed one of these
amphibians in the twilight zone of Schermerhorn Cave on the night of 19
March and another example in a small roadside spring east of the cave
on the same night. Loraine (1983) observed examples of this amphibian
in small streams, in shallow caves of human construction, and along a
temporary spring. Beard (1986) and Young (1986) observed nearly
twenty of these salamanders inside Schermerhorn Cave, most of them
close to the entrance. Taggart (1992) found a single Long-tailed Salamander
each on 4 July and 13 August in the same cave.
Lives near cool streams and spring seeps in rocky forested uplands and valleys. They are partial to the twilight zone of caves and may be found deep within caves. The gilled larvae are often abundant in the nearby streams. Adults emerge from rocky hiding places on humid nights and feed on invertebrates.
This salamander breeds from November to February. Fertilization
is internal, and an average of 90 eggs are laid. Each female produces
one clutch of eggs per season. Like Cave Salamander eggs, these are attached
in a single row to the undersides of rocks. The larvae have gills, live
in streams, and metamorphose within seven months of hatching.
The food of the Long-tailed Salamander is unknown in Kansas but
probably consists of small invertebrates such as spiders.
First reported from Kansas by Smith (1932) based on field studies that took place in April 1931 and March of 1932. The earliest existing specimen is KU 6387 collected by R. A. Stirton on 8 September 1926 near Shoal Creek (Galena) in Cherokee County.
Listed as a Kansas Threatened species in 1987. A recovery plan has been completed (Layher, 2002).
Designated critical habitat has been defined as, all suitable wetlands, waters, and moist wooded bottomlands occurring within that portion of Cherokee County lying south and east of a line starting at the Kansas-Missouri border at Kansas Highway 96 in the SE 1/4 Sec. 12, T33S, R25E, then extending west along K-96 to its junction with Kansas Highway 26 at the NE corner Sec. 18, T33S, R25E, then south along K- 26 to its junction with U.S. Highway 66 at SE corner Sec. 18, T34S, R25E, then south and west along U.S. 66 to the Kansas-Oklahoma border at Sec. 14, T35S, R24E.
This species is confined to woodlands and associated leaf litter and rock cover.
Layher (2002) recommended the down-listing of this species to SINC status at such a time it is known from 20 localities and when 16 of those localities are protected in some manner. He further recommended that upon confirmation of the species' continued existence at those sites five years later, it should be dropped from the SINC list.
This taxon is the most wide-ranging of the Plethodontids in the Ozarkian Plateau of Kansas. This species has doubtfully seen little change in its distribution or relative abundance over the last 50 years.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this species of five years and ten days.
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