Brownback Salamander
Eurycea aquatica
A 3-4 cm salamander with olive or yellowish sides and a wide brown stripe with few black speckles down the center of its back. A black dorsolateral stripe separates these…
How to identify
A 3-4 cm salamander with olive or yellowish sides and a wide brown stripe with few black speckles down the center of its back. A black dorsolateral stripe separates these two colorations on each side of the body. Its legs are long and skinny. There is usually a thin light or dark line down the center of its spine.
Range
Around the southern end of the Appalachian mountain range, in eastern Tennessee, southwestern North Carolina, northwestern Georgia, and northern Alabama.
Habitat
Lives in and around freshwater springs, often where watercress grows.
Variations
Some are darker shades of brown, while others are yellowish hues. Males have a broader head than females, and they do not possess cirri (2 small downward projections off the tip of the rostrum), which distinguishes this salamander from similar species.
Similar species
Looks most similar to the southern two-lined salamander (*Eurycea cirrigera*), northern two-lined salamander (*Eurycea bislineata*), or the Blue Ridge two-lined salamander (*Eurycea wilderae*).
Name and etymology
Genus
Eurycea
Probably honoring Eurydice the wife of Orpheus in Greek mythology. Although Rafinesque, who named the genus, only wrote "mythological"
Origin
Honors
Sources
- Rafinesque, 1822. Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, N. S., Vol. 1, No. 9, Feb. 28, p. 3, column 6
Eurycea. Rafinesque, 1822 - Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, N. S., Vol. 1, No. 9, Feb. 28, p. 3, column 6
Species epithet
aquatica
Latin for belonging to the water
Origin
Sources
- Wikipedia: Eurycea aquatica ↗
“Eurycea aquatica.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownback_salamander
Explore more names in the etymology index.
At a glance
Range
Around the southern end of the Appalachian mountain range, in eastern Tennessee, southwestern North Carolina, northwestern Ge…
Habitat
Lives in and around freshwater springs, often where watercress grows.
Guide
Reptiles and Amphibians of North America
Range map
Approximate range. © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap