A First Foray into the Ozarks

This past Sunday, I left with my Envirothon team for the national competition in Springfield, Missouri. The drive down through the Corn Belt of Indiana and Illinois proved uneventful as expected, but the transition to the West via the St. Louis arch lifted our road weary spirits. I had not been west of the Mississippi since I was an eight month-old moving back from Texas before last Sunday. We stayed in Springfield and tried some road cruising that night for snakes in the Ozark foothills, but failed to turn up any herps on the roads. The next morning, we got up early and headed for a cave that was rumored to have a few lifer salamanders in good numbers. That it did. This particular Southern Missouri Cave, replete with a crystal-clear stream and moss-covered limestone walls, turned up Dark-sided, Cave, Western Slimy, and Grotto Salamanders all within 20 minutes!! Another larger, more historic cave offered up another significant dose of lucifuga before we headed back to Springfield to register for the competition and ended the stint of euphoric limestone karst herping.
Happy herping!

Very nice finds, especially considering the short time you had! Did you happen to see any adult grotto salamanders?

-Ananth.

Are the Grotto Salamanders pictured here neotenic?

First off, thanks all for the kind comments about the pictures, and, yes, I wish that I had more time to get down into the Arkansas Ozarks and Ouachitas to pick up a few more species. About the Grotto Salamanders, I didn't see any full adults, but from what I gathered from the landowner, this population is made up of both neotonic individuals and ones that transform into an adult form. I'm not sure which I saw, but they were definitely Grottoes!

Happy herping everyone!