Marbled Salamanders moved 'in pseudo situ' into the Amphibian Research and Conservation Center

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State Herpetologist, John Jensen took me out months ago to collect conservation breeding stock of Marbled Salamanders, Ambystoma opacum.
Last autumn, John Jensen who is one of the state herpetologists for GA Department of Natural Resources, and also on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Amphibian Foundation, took me out into the field in the hopes of collecting Marbled Salamanders for inclusion in our conservation breeding program.

This program, of which the ultimate goal is to successfully propagate healthy Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders (Ambystoma cingulatum) for release into restored habitat in the southeast, also focuses on surrogate species. Ambystomatid salamanders, such as the Marbled and Flatwoods species, have not been reliably bred in captivity, and gaining a better understanding on how this can be accomplished is vital to the program's success.

Marbled Salamanders and Flatwoods Salamanders are unique in one interesting way — they breed exclusively in dry ephemeral wetlands. These are seasonal ponds that dry out once per year or so, and these species utilize these wetlands when they are dry. The eggs laid during that time begin to develop while they wait for seasonal rains to fill the ponds and inundate the eggs. That is when they hatch.

Today, after rearing and monitoring the animals for many months in the lab, our new Research Intern Dani Davis and I released the animals into their mesocosm. If the animals acclimate well to their new environment, it is entirely possible that we will have successful reproduction this October or November.

Research Intern, Dani Davis releasing Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) into the mesocosm for conservation breeding experiments.

Marbled Salamander inspecting its new habitat

Location: 4055 Roswell Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30342, USA

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