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Ambystoma talpoideum

(Holbrook, 1838)

Mole Salamander

G4Apparently Secure (G4G5) Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
MediumThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103509
Element CodeAAAAA01120
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAmphibia
OrderCaudata
FamilyAmbystomatidae
GenusAmbystoma
Other Common Names
mole salamander (EN)
Concept Reference
Frost, D. R. 1985. Amphibian species of the world. A taxonomic and geographical reference. Allen Press, Inc., and The Association of Systematics Collections, Lawrence, Kansas. v + 732 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
See Kraus (1988), Shaffer et al. (1991), and Jones et al. (1993) for phylogenetic analyses of North American Ambystoma.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-05-19
Change Date2025-05-19
Edition Date2025-05-19
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G. (2005); rev. R. L. Gundy (2025)
Threat ImpactMedium
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Fairly large extent of occurrence in southeastern United States; high abundance; many stable populations throughout the core of the range.
Range Extent Comments
This species is endemic to the southeastern United States. The range extends along the Coastal Plain of South Carolina through northern Florida, west to eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma, north in the Mississippi Valley to southern Illinois and southern Indiana (Williams and MacGowan 2004). Disjunct populations in occur Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky (Conant and Collins 1991). Using Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (2025) records from 2000-2025, range extent is estimated to be 1.088 million km² (RARECAT 2025).
Occurrences Comments
Many occurrences.
Threat Impact Comments
Threats include: draining or filling of breeding ponds; introduction of predatory fishes in conjunction with deepening of breeding ponds; loss and degradation of forest habitat surrounding breeding ponds. Many local populations have been lost as native forests with seasonal pools have been converted to agricultural and urban uses. In Louisiana, a clearcut near a breeding pond apparently affected the salamander population by (1) lowering the survival of adults immigrating from the clearcut side of the pond, and (2) displacing adults to a less suitable terrestrial habitat (Raymond and Hardy 1991). In South Carolina, an experimental study that involved placing recently metamorphosed salamanders in enclosures in differently managed habitats found that habitat modification resulting from clearcutting may not have detrimental effects on newly metamorphosed individuals (Chazal and Niewiarowski 1998). Breeding ponds that have been colonized fish are actively avoided by adults (Davis et al. 2017). Increasing droughts due to climate change are expected to negatively impact this species (Daszak et al. 2005, Walls et al. 2013).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Usually near breeding ponds--in pine flatwoods, floodplains, and bottomland hardwood forests. In South Carolina, avoided clearcuts and open fields, occurred in all types of forest (Semlitsch 1981). Terrestrial adults live in underground burrows; sometimes found under logs or other objects in damp places. Breeds in shallow ponds and flooded depressions that are free of fishes and that often have abundant emergent and/or submerged vegetation. Eggs are attached to stems or sticks or to the substrate. Reproductive success positively correlated with duration of standing water in breeding pond, but not with number of breeding females or number of eggs laid (Semlitsch 1987).

Ecology

In the nonbreeding season, adult home range encompasses only a couple dozen square meters. Adult annual survival was 63-84% in Louisiana (Raymond and Hardy 1990).

Reproduction

Breeds in winter in south, in fall in north. In South Carolina, breeding immigrations occur mainly November-January. In South Carolina, most paedomorphic females were inseminated by early November before the late fall-early winter arrival of most metamorphic males (Krenz and Sever 1995, Herpetologica 51: 387-393). Clutches of up to several hundred eggs are laid singly in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, in masses in the Mississippi Valley Physiographic Province (Herp. Rev. 21:14-15). Adults leave the breeding ponds by mid-May (in March in South Carolina). Larvae metamorphose into terrestrial form in late spring or summer, or early fall, or the following spring, or become paedomorphic (Semlitsch 1985). Facultative paedomorphosis is associated with permanent or nearly permanent ponds. In Louisiana, reproductive cycle is annual (mainly), biennial, or otherwise; first breeding occurs at 2 years (reported as 1 year in South Carolina) (Raymond and Hardy 1990). In South Carolina, reproductive success varied greatly; poor or minimal during drought periods (Pechmann et al. 1991).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - Mixed
Palustrine Habitats
TEMPORARY POOLSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
IndianaS1Yes
LouisianaS5Yes
VirginiaS2Yes
MissouriS2Yes
MississippiS5Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
FloridaS3Yes
AlabamaS5Yes
OklahomaS1Yes
South CarolinaS5Yes
KentuckyS3Yes
ArkansasS3Yes
TennesseeS4Yes
TexasS3Yes
IllinoisS3Yes
North CarolinaS2Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areasRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
1.2 - Commercial & industrial areasRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber cropsRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
4 - Transportation & service corridorsSmall (1-10%)Slight or 1-10% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
4.1 - Roads & railroadsSmall (1-10%)Slight or 1-10% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
5 - Biological resource useRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvestingRestricted - smallModerate - slightHigh (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseasesUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseasesUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (5)
Louisiana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Cunningham Brake Research Natural AreaKisatchie National Forest1,797
North Carolina (4)
AreaForestAcres
Chunky Gal (addition)Nantahala National Forest3,336
Laurel MountainPisgah National Forest5,683
South Mills RiverPisgah National Forest8,588
Woods MountainPisgah National Forest9,602
References (44)
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