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Project Noah Nature School
Thanks, roemer1! There were lots of marine iguanas running around, but this one was posing and particularly noteworthy. He/she was quite large.
It does look like an animal sacrum (pelvic bone). It's made from fused posterior vertebrae, as you can usually tell from the bottom (ventral) side. Did you get a view from underneath.
Taricha usually has a more grainy appearance on the back. I am NOT an expert on west coast salamanders, but I'm guessing the yellow-eyed ensatina because of the yellowish color where the legs and body intersect.
Fun fact: The red eyes mean that this handsome specimen is likely a male.
Karen--Zigzags are more slender with a reddish stripe; the zigzag pattern can be quite distinct, but it is highly variable. Desmogs are pretty challenging, especially since I don't see them very often.
In TN, there is a complex of salamanders that look very similar. In the northern part of the range it is D. ochrophaeus; in the southern part it is D. ocoee. There appears to be a new species in the middle, according to Anderson and Tilley. I'm not sure exactly where the dividing line is.
Sorry, Neil. If this salamander is from Ontario it's Plethodon cinereus. P. serratus is the SOUTHERN redback.
