Tiger Salamander
Ambystoma tigrinum
🌍 Overview
The tiger salamander is the largest land-dwelling salamander in North America, found across a vast range from Canada to Mexico. They are burrowing animals that spend most of their lives underground, emerging to breed in temporary and permanent ponds. In some lake environments, individuals remain permanently aquatic and sexually mature without fully metamorphosing - a neotenic phenomenon. Some of these neotenic populations were historically described as entirely separate species before genetic analysis revealed their true relationship.
📋 Quick Facts
Native Range
North America (Canada to Mexico; widespread across the continent)
Natural Habitat
Grassland, forest, and marshland; adjacent to breeding ponds
Adult Size
8-13 inches (20-33 cm)
Wild Diet
Worms, insects, slugs, frogs, small mice, and other salamanders
Wild Lifespan
12-16 years
Conservation Status
Least Concern (IUCN)
⚖️ Compare
Tiger Salamander
Human
Adult Size
8-13 inches (20-33 cm)
5-6 feet (150-185 cm); ~135-200 lbs
Wild Lifespan
12-16 years
~73 years (global average)
Wild Diet
Worms, insects, slugs, frogs, small mice, and other salamanders
Omnivorous - eats just about anything
Native Range
North America (Canada to Mexico; widespread across the continent)
Global - originated in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago
Natural Habitat
Grassland, forest, and marshland; adjacent to breeding ponds
Everywhere from arctic tundra to tropical megacities
Conservation Status
Least Concern (IUCN)
Least Concern (8+ billion and counting)
🧠 Test Yourself
What's the Tiger Salamander's native range?
🤩 Fun Facts
🐅 A Species That Fits in a Town
Around 5,500 tigers remain in the wild, across thirteen countries, for the entire species. A century ago the estimate was near 100,000. They have lost roughly 93 to 95 percent of their historic range, and three subspecies are already gone: the Bali, Caspian and Javan tigers.
🐅 Striped to the Skin
Tiger stripes are not only in the fur. The pattern is in the skin underneath, so a shaved tiger is still striped. Every tiger's arrangement is unique, which is genuinely useful: camera trap surveys identify individual animals by stripe pattern the way you would use a fingerprint, and much of what we know about remaining numbers comes from exactly that.
⚖️ Where it is legal
12 US jurisdictions restrict this species, from outright bans to permits. Every one quotes the rule it comes from.
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📰 Deep Dive
🤓 Did You Know?
Tiger salamanders are one of North America's largest terrestrial salamanders, reaching 13 inches. They are also among the most cold-tolerant amphibians on the continent, naturally overwintering underground in frozen soil across much of the US and Canada.
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