Redback
Salamander
Plethodon cinereus
Vermilion Co., Illinois. March 12, 1996.
Photo by Ken Felsman
My first Redback was from Washington County, Missouri, back in 1976. Or so I thought, relying on my battered old copy of Conant's Field Guide. That same year, these salamanders, along with isolated populations south and east, were renamed as Plethodon serratus, the Southern Redback Salamander, being of sufficient genetic difference from the 'other' Redbacks.
Trips to the nearby Middle Fork Preserve allowed me to once again find Redbacks for the first time. Does it really matter? Can there be any difference between these animals, other than in the hidden gene? They share the same habitat, diet, reproductive cycles, appearances. It only matters to a Life Lister, who goes by what is in the books.
The second Redback picture is from near Elgin, West Virginia.