Ambystoma laterale
Silhouette: Matt Reinbold (modified by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The blue-spotted salamander (Ambystoma laterale) is a mole salamander native to the Great Lakes states and northeastern United States, and parts of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Their range is known to extend to James Bay to the north, and southeastern Manitoba to the west. Blue-spotted salamanders include unisexual lineages that can reproduce without fertilization (gynogenesis).
Blue-spotted salamanders are between 10 and 14 cm (3.9 and 5.5 in) in length, of which the tail comprises 40%. Generally, males are slightly smaller than their female counterparts. Their skin is bluish-black, with characteristic blue and white flecks on its back, and bluish-white spots on the sides of its body and tail. They have elongated bodies. The vent is typically black, which contrasts with the paler belly. Larvae that have transformed may have yellow splotches; these turn blue once the individual becomes terrestrial. Occasionally, a melanistic individual may be found in the wild.
They have long toes: four on the front feet and five on the hind feet. Typically, specimens will have 12–14 costal grooves. Males tend to be smaller than females, though they have longer, flattened tails.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-spotted Salamander sighting in Montreal on a given day, based on 59 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 8th most-seen of the 11 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and October–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-spotted Salamander in Montreal on a given day, against under 5% in July–September and December–March, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-spotted Salamander sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Montreal, in our data
Montreal is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Blue-spotted Salamander sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-spotted Salamander is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Montreal (59 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
