Key words: Ambystoma talpoideum, Ambystomatidae, harmonic radar detection, mole salamanders, terrestrial habitat, reflector tag, tracking
Mole salamanders are a highly fossorial species, spending most of their life in burrows 3-4 cm below the soil surface (1).
The objectives of our study were to: 1) determine the detection range of reflector tags having varying antenna lengths; and 2) to test effects of internal implantation on body weight of mole salamanders and retention rate of reflector tags.
To test effects of internal implantation and retention rate of tags on mole salamanders, we performed a second experiment.
Retention rate of tags implanted in mole salamanders ranged from 14-60 days, with a mean ([+ or -] SE) retention time of 42.5 days ([+ or -] 6.5).
Mole salamanders burrow an average of 3-4 cm below the soil surface (1).
A similar response was observed for radioactive [.sup.182]Ta wire tags implanted into mole salamanders (12).
Life history patterns of paedogenic populations of the mole salamander, Ambys-toma talpoideum.
Based on the results from the ANOVA (Table 6), mole salamanders, southern toads and eastern newts have significantly more days [year.sup.-1] of surface activity in the hardwood forest than in the pine forests.
Mole salamanders, including tiger, marbled, spotted, Jefferson and blue-spotted, breed in vernal pools which only hold water for a portion of the year, usually drying out completely by late summer.