NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mole Salamander
Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
An adult Ambystoma talpoideum (mole salamander) at the University of Mississippi Field Station.
Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Ambystoma talpoideum, the mole salamander, is a species of salamander found in much of the eastern and central United States, from Florida to Texas, north to Illinois, east to Kentucky, with isolated populations in Virginia and Indiana. Older sources often refer to this species as the tadpole salamander because some individuals remain in a neotenic state. This salamander lives among the leaf litter on the forest floor, migrating to ponds to breed.
Wikipedia contributors, Ambystoma talpoideum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:52:29.074659+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838)
- Name authority
- (Holbrook, 1838)
- Common name
- Mole Salamander
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Caudata
- Family
- Ambystomatidae
- Genus
- Ambystoma
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderCaudata
- familyAmbystomatidae Gray, 1850
- genusAmbystoma Tschudi, 1838
- speciesAmbystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ambystoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ambystoma ordinarium Taylor, 1940 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma amblycephalum Taylor, 1940 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma andersoni Krebs & Brandon, 1984 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ringed SalamanderAmbystoma annulatum Cope, 1886 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Streamside SalamanderAmbystoma barbouri Kraus & Petranka, 1989 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Reticulated Flatwoods SalamanderAmbystoma bishopi Goin, 1950 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| California Tiger SalamanderAmbystoma californiense Gray, 1853 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma dumerilii (Dugès, 1870) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northwestern SalamanderAmbystoma gracile (Baird, 1859) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lake Lerma SalamanderAmbystoma lermaense (Taylor, 1940) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| AxolotlAmbystoma mexicanum (Shaw & Nodder, 1798) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Amblystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838) (Holbrook, 1838) | synonym |
| Salamandra talpoidea Holbrook, 1838 Holbrook, 1838 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=173604 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.
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:CQ5D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.