**Description:** Small, slender salamander with a distinct red or orange stripe down its back. A "lead-back" color phase also exists which is solid dark gray.
**Size:** 2.2–5 inches long.
**Sexual Dimorphism:** Males have a more truncated snout and a small mental gland under the chin during breeding.
**Life Cycle:** Completely terrestrial; they lay eggs under logs in moist soil, where the mother guards them until they hatch into miniature adults.
**Habitat:** The most common vertebrate in the forest, found under logs and leaf litter.