Spring Salamander

Open encyclopedia reference

The spring salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders). It is found in Canada and the United States. The genus, Gyrinophilus, means "tadpole lover" and refers to the long period of time it spends as a gilled larva before maturing. The specific epithet, porphyriticus, is Latin from Greek, meaning the color of porphyry, a purple stone, and this salamander has also been called the purple salamander. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, inland karsts, and caves. In addition to insects, spiders, mites, millipedes, centipedes, slugs, snails, annelid worms, and other small invertebrates, the fairly large spring salamander may also consume smaller stream dwelling salamanders and their eggs, such as two-lined and dusky salamanders, as well as pygmy, ocoee, Jordan's, southern red-backed, southern Appalachian, and red salamanders. They are also known to be cannibalistic. They are considered salamander specialists in some areas, such as the mountains of North Carolina, where between 40 and 50% of their adult diets may consist of other salamanders.

Wikipedia contributors, Spring salamander; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:38:17.843365+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Green, 1827)

Name authority

(Green, 1827)

Common name

Spring Salamander

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Caudata

Family

Plethodontidae

Genus

Gyrinophilus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAmphibia
9. orderCaudata
10. familyPlethodontidae Gray, 1850
11. subfamilyHemidactyliinae Hallowell, 1856
12. genusGyrinophilus Cope, 1869
13. speciesGyrinophilus porphyriticus (Green, 1827)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Gyrinophilus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 371 records assigned to Plethodontidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=173715 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3HYSW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.