Frogs and salamanders are what’s known as “gape-limited predators”, which is a fancy way of saying the size of their mouth is the biggest factor behind what they will eat.
Considered by some as a crown jewel of nighttime road searches, the Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) tops off around 3 inches and is thinner than a pencil.
With each trip in and out of the snow encrusted river, layer upon layer of ice built up on my waders… Many passersby asked what we were doing, and none correctly guessed we were looking for giant aquatic salamanders.
Due to their long lifespans, a turtle species can become functionally extinct while just a handful of survivors live in isolation for decades, possibly more than a century.
Gopher and Desert Tortoises are fairly well known, but a fourth tortoise species native to the United States flies under the radar; the Texas Tortoise.