Amphibians
Jordan's Salamander
Plethodon jordani · also called red-cheeked salamander
Somewhere in the high-elevation forest of the Great Smoky Mountains, a predator that once made the mistake of biting a Jordan’s salamander now avoids the same reddish-cheeked pattern entirely, a caution that unintentionally protects a second, harmless species as well.
Overview
Jordan’s salamander, Plethodon jordani, also known as the red-cheeked salamander, is a lungless salamander native to high-elevation forest habitat within the Great Smoky Mountains region. Its genuinely unpalatable defence and central role as the model in a well-documented mimicry relationship make it one of the more ecologically significant salamanders in the southern Appalachians.
The real thing behind a borrowed disguise
While its harmless look-alike relies entirely on resemblance, Jordan’s salamander backs up its warning appearance with an actual chemical defence, making it the genuine article in a relationship where imitation depends completely on this species’ own unpleasant reputation holding up.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and common across suitable high-elevation forest habitat within the Great Smoky Mountains region.
Jordan's Salamander: common questions
Why does another salamander species mimic Jordan's salamander?
Jordan's salamander produces genuinely unpalatable skin secretions that effectively deter predators, and because predators learn to associate its appearance with that unpleasant experience, the harmless imitator salamander has evolved to closely resemble it, gaining protection from the same learned avoidance without needing any toxic defence of its own.
Why is Jordan's salamander also called the red-cheeked salamander?
In parts of its range, Jordan's salamander displays distinctive red or reddish cheek patches, a feature striking enough to give the species its alternate common name, though colour pattern varies considerably across the different populations that make up this complex of closely related southern Appalachian salamanders.
Does Jordan's salamander have an aquatic larval stage?
No, like other members of its genus, Jordan's salamander undergoes direct development with no free-living aquatic larval stage at all, hatching directly into a miniature terrestrial form rather than passing through a swimming, gilled larval phase.
Where does Jordan's salamander live?
Jordan's salamander is native to high-elevation forest habitat within the Great Smoky Mountains region of the southern Appalachians, sharing this range closely with the imitator salamander that has evolved to resemble it.