Species of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae can be quite similar in appearance. In order
to ensure that your hard work in the field results in a verified voucher, there are important external
characters that must be photographed. Key diagnostic characters such as costal groove counts are
helpful in laboratory settings, but can be difficult to count on live animals and voucher photographs.
Additionally, like scale counts in snakes and lizards, costal groove counts can be variable and vary
regionally, or even between sites that are mere miles apart. Body thickness and tail length (remember,
these salamanders can detach and regrow tails) are also quite variable and are individually not enough
to separate species.
