The red-backed salamander is a small lungless terrestrial amphibian from the forests of eastern North America. It breathes through its skin and often has a bright red stripe on its back, although gray-black individuals without a stripe are also found.
The red-backed salamander differs from many amphibians by the complete absence of an aquatic development stage and the ability to live only on land. It is important for the forest ecosystem because it eats many insects and serves as food for snakes, birds, and small mammals.
searching and capturing prey with the tongue and jaws
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
Worker
head
birth time
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
shallow coastal zones of rivers and lakes
g
lots of rain, warm summer, snow in winter
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
live ants of all castes and sizes
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
invertebrates
About health
cool, lots of coniferous trees, snow in winter
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
sticky tongue
Trophic type
all living animals without backbone
Filters
Upcoming birthdays
standing fresh waters — lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes
Winter with snow
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
tongue
rains almost always, very humid
invertebrate
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Warm summer and frequent rains
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
Regeneration
summer warm, rains frequent
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
swampy freshwater biotopes — peat bogs, marshes, river mangroves
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
Pets
Primary oral structure used to seize, manipulate, or ingest food.
Nearctic realm
freshwater cave
Lots of rain and cool summer
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
cm
Temperate coniferous forest
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
woodlice, amphipods and other isopod crustaceans
mouth
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
Flooded grasslands
after fast growth and adult
Litter size
ants
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
Species lacks any fixed or lasting shelter structure.
all rivers and lakes
lots of rain, cool summer, snow in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Protrusible tongue coated with adhesive mucus for capturing prey.
Bro
lakes and ponds
freshwater marsh and wetlands
Taxons
carnivore
if born as {name}
Forages within or on the surface of soil or substrate.
beetles
age
birth date
no permanent shelter
freshwater coastal and creek
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
nocturnal
The basics
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
teeth
Potential Habitat
Very hot summer
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
lots of rain, summer not hot
Mass
cold winter, lots of coniferous trees: spruce, pine
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
Body size
summer very hot, above +25…+30 °C
{name} birthday
Nearctic realm
soil
No results found
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
On the map
lunge
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Body color
small worms
termites
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Maturity
Skin color
isopods
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
Body count
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
spiders
Neither
live beetles — various species
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Lots of rain and warm summer
from birth to death
much snow in winter, cold
early young
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
water often floods the land, lots of grass
Freshwater
Temperate mixed forest
Duration
This is me
Foraging activity occurs primarily during nighttime hours.
freshwater
Always very wet
Gamers
How are they built?
Cool summer and lots of rain
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
live spiders — arachnids of all sizes
terrestrial
Taiga
Asexual
swap
freshwater environment — rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps
live termites
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
from development to end of fast growth
small worms without further specification
Hermaphrodite ⚥
Grape
Uses the tongue to locate, manipulate, or ingest food items.
8 to 11 grams, 1.5 – 8 centimeters
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
embryo
underground freshwater bodies — karst caves with water
Dorsal stripe color
summer warm, many oaks, birches, maples
Length
kg
Rapid forward strike to seize prey.
Observations
◉{N} more on tap