Plethodon shenandoah
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Shenandoah salamander (Plethodon shenandoah) is a small, terrestrial salamander found exclusively in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The Shenandoah salamander inhabits a very small range of land on just three mountain peaks. Due to the small habitat range, interspecies competition, and climate change, the population of the Shenandoah salamander is vulnerable to extinction. Mitigating human effects on the habitat of the species will be essential in attempting to preserve and grow the population.
The adult Shenandoah salamander is slender and moderate in size, with a total length of 3.5 to 4.5 inches (7 cm - 10 cm). The species has two distinct color phases: striped and unstriped. The striped color phase has a narrow stripe down the center of its back that can range in color from red to yellow, while the unstriped color phase is uniformly dark with occasional scattered brass-colored flecks. In both color phases, white or yellow spots occur along the sides of the body. The Shenandoah salamander is similar in appearance to the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus). However, the two species can be distinguished in many ways. The stripe on the Shenandoah salamander... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Shenandoah Salamander sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 183 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 20 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Shenandoah Salamander in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shenandoah Salamander sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Shenandoah National Park, in our data
Shenandoah National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Shenandoah Salamander sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Plethodon
The closest relatives of the Shenandoah Salamander that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Plethodon, Woodland Salamanders) are Eastern Red-backed Salamander (about 60%) and White-spotted Slimy Salamander (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shenandoah Salamander is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Shenandoah National Park (183 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
