Southern Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus auriculatus

Desmognathus auriculatus, the southern dusky, is a fairly robust, medium-sized salamander with a slightly keeled tail and hindlimbs noticeably larger than its forelimbs. Most individuals are usually brown to black in ground color, and there may or may not be a lighter colored patch running down the middle of the back (which may have fairly straight or wavy margins). The most consistent character is the presence of a series of whitish spots along the sides in between the front and rear legs. The southern dusky is found along the edges of, and occasionally in, slow moving or stagnant streams. They are often discovered scrambling for refuge when cover objects, such as logs are tree limbs on the shoreline, are overturned.