A single population of Plethodon cinereus from northwestern Nova Scotia shows a high incidence of limb skeletal variants, which is exceptional for this morphologically conservative species. Included are nine carpal patterns and five tarsal patterns, which result from the variable occurrence of 11 different combinations of fused adjacent mesopodial elements, and frequent absence of one or more ossified phalanges; one instance of increased phalangeal number also is noted. Primitive plethodontid carpal and tarsal patterns, which characterize P. cinereus from other parts of its range, occur in 69 and 71% of the carpi and tarsi examined, respectively. Modal phalangeal formulae also are those typical of P. cinereus generally. Several mesopodial variants resemble those seen in other plethodontid genera; they may have appeared independently in P. cinereus. Others are unique to this population. Both the genetic basis and geographical extent of this variation are unknown.
Three colour morphs of the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus, are known in eastern Canada: red-backed, lead-backed, and erythristic. Anomalies, including two albino and four leucistic individuals, are also known from eastern Canada. We report the first salamander individuals exhibiting amelanism, which is a lack of black skin pigment, but with black eyes, one from Quebec and one from Nova Scotia, Canada.
In 2011, an amelanistic Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus, was discovered in Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is the second amelanistic Eastern Red-backed Salamander that has been documented from the Halifax area. Albino and leucistic individuals have also been identified from Nova Scotia. These aberrant conditions, including the two amelanistic individals, were discovered in isolated, fragmented, and disturbed habitat.
Two Amelanistic Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) from Eastern Canada