#1907 · 🐸 amphibians
Eastern Red-backed Salamander
🇳🇱 Roodrugsalamander ·Plethodon cinereus
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Ty Smith · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Ty Smith · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Alex Karasoulos · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Ty Smith · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Brad Walker · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Ty Smith · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Jance S Carter · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Alex Karasoulos · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Alex Karasoulos · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © marton · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The red-backed (or redback ) salamander ( Plethodon cinereus ) is a small, hardy woodland salamander. It inhabits wooded slopes in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to North Carolina, and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada to Minnesota. It is also known as the eastern red-backed salamander or the northern red-backed salamander to distinguish it from the southern red-backed salamander ( Plethodon serratus ). It is one of 55 species in the genus Plethodon .
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 106,886 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Jacob Green in 1818 (208 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Eastern Red-backed Salamander
- Nederlands
- Roodrugsalamander
- scientific name
- Plethodon cinereus
- class
- Amphibia
- order
- Caudata
- family
- Plethodontidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 106,886
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1818 by Jacob Green
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Plethodontidae
#1928 📷 10California Slender Salamander
🇳🇱 Californische slanke salamander
Batrachoseps attenuatus
LC 🌍 29.8k seen
#1931 📷 10Ensatina
Ensatina eschscholtzii
LC 🌍 26k seen
#1934 📷 7Northern Two-lined Salamander
🇳🇱 Tweestreepsalamander
Eurycea bislineata
LC 🌍 19.4k seen
#1935 📷 10Northern Slimy Salamander
🇳🇱 Kleverige salamander
Plethodon glutinosus
LC 🌍 17.1k seen
#1939 📷 10Southern Two-lined Salamander
Eurycea cirrigera
LC 🌍 15.8k seen
#1954 📷 10Arboreal Salamander
Aneides lugubris
LC 🌍 10.7k seen
#1955 📷 10Northern Dusky Salamander
🇳🇱 Bruine beeksalamander
Desmognathus fuscus
LC 🌍 10.7k seen
#1959 📷 10Red Salamander
🇳🇱 Rode salamander
Pseudotriton ruber
LC 🌍 9.6k seen
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 27186, Wikidata Q1092717, GBIF 2431491, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.