The four-toed salamander is thin and reddish-brown in colour. The orange-coloured tail has a constriction, or groove, circling it just behind the rear legs.
It has an immaculate white belly dotted with black spots.
Look for four toes on each foot. All other terrestrial salamanders have five toes on each hind foot.
The four-toed salamander is found in moss in bogs or under rocks and logs in mossy seepage areas and marshy woodlands.
Males court females in the fall when wet weather in late September and October stimulates them to search for females.
Females retain the male's sperm over the winter and migrate towards woodland ponds the following April in search of suitable egg laying sites.
Each female lays about 25 eggs.
This species has a discontinuous distribution in Ontario because of its specialized need for moss-fringed ponds in rich, damp woodlands.
Hemidactylium scutatum 