by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, May 15, 2026
A dog checks out a spotted salamander. (Photo by Thomas Killian)
Fourth-grade science lessons are a great source for column ideas. After an engaging conversation in the car about salamanders and whether we would choose the amphibians’ “super cool” ability to regenerate as one of our own superpowers if given the choice, it became clear that these very common creatures, hidden in plain sight, were worth a second look.
For many residents in Harvard, salamanders are creatures most often glimpsed only briefly, perhaps on a rainy night in the spring as they cross the road en masse. Kids enjoy lifting logs on hikes and finding the spotted creatures hiding underneath. And who doesn’t love the “Salamander Crossing” signs that pop up around town every year around this time?
Beneath the leaf litter and vernal pools of our forests exists an entire hidden world of amphibians quietly playing an important role in our ecosystem.
The most common salamander species found in Harvard is the Eastern red-backed salamander, a tiny, lungless creature that breathes through its skin and spends its life beneath forest leaves and fallen logs. Coloring can vary from reddish stripes down their backs, to others that are entirely gray, a variation known as “lead-backed.” Worcester County is also home to several other salamander species, including the spotted salamander, blue-spotted salamander, northern two-lined salamander, and the northern dusky salamander.
Of those, the spotted salamander may be the most recognizable. “Some people may not realize how big spotted salamanders get,” said Cindy Dunn, sanctuary manager for the Massachusetts Audubon Wachusett Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton. “They can be 8 inches or so, and with that really dark background and those prominent yellow spots, they look pretty exotic.”
Despite often going unnoticed, salamanders play a significant ecological role. According to the United States Geological Survey, salamanders act as indicators of environmental health because their moist, permeable skin makes them highly sensitive to pollution and environmental change. They also help regulate insect populations, serve as prey for larger predators, and contribute to carbon cycling within forest ecosystems.
Tia Pinney, senior naturalist at Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, said that the red-backed salamander is an example of a species many people never notice despite its abundance.
“It is possibly the most common vertebrate in the forest, and 90% of people have probably never heard of it or noticed it,” said Pinney. “This is what the world is,” said Pinney. “It’s made up of these organisms that occupy these spaces that we don’t even know about. And if we can’t approach that with a certain amount of awe, then we should just hang it up.”
That hidden world becomes briefly visible each spring during what amphibian enthusiasts call “Big Night,” the annual migration of salamanders and frogs from upland forests to vernal pools to breed.
According to Pinney, the migration is triggered by a precise combination of warming soil temperatures and rain. “They need a night that’s in the high 30s to mid-40s with precipitation,” she explained. “They move in wet weather because they are vulnerable to drying out.”
These crossings can be perilous. Dunn explained that because entire local populations often move at once, roads can become deadly bottlenecks.
“If there is a road between the woodlands, where they spend most of the year, and that wetland, it means that a large [portion], if not all, of the adult population is moving all in the course of a few nights,” she said. “And so the mortality on the local population may be exceedingly high.”
There are a number of things that make salamanders fascinating creatures. One is their longevity. Dunn reported that some can live to be 20 years old. She also noted that the size can be quite surprising in that they can grow to be 8 inches long, looking more like the lizards and iguanas one might see on a Caribbean vacation, rather than while hiking the Holy Hill trail in Harvard. They also have unique spot patterns, which Dunn likened to human fingerprints.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about salamanders, at least what grabbed the fourth-graders’ attention, is their remarkable regenerative abilities.
Certain salamander species can regrow lost tails, limbs, and even portions of organs. Recent research from Duke University School of Medicine suggests that regeneration in salamanders is not merely a local repair process, but a “whole-body event” involving stem-cell activation throughout the animal’s body.
Scientists are studying whether humans may possess dormant regenerative capabilities similar to what researchers call our “inner salamander.” “It is a survival strategy for some salamanders,” Dunn explained. “Usually it’s a tail. If they’re being pursued, a wiggly tail may attract the attention of a predator, and if that tail can be lost and then grown back, that may distract a predator long enough that something more critical isn’t what gets left behind.”
Pinney called the phenomenon “a fascinating question” from an evolutionary standpoint. “There are several species of amphibians that can regenerate,” she said. “Why can’t [humans] regenerate a limb?”
Anecdotally, depending on the age of the human, we can. After hearing about the science lesson, I relayed the story of the time my nephew lost part of his index finger when he was 18-months old. His parents rushed him to the emergency room in a panic, only to be met with an unfazed pediatrician that assured my brother and sister-in law that it would grow back.
Should we heed the signs warning of salamander crossing? Both Dunn and Pinney emphasized that coexistence and habitat protection matter more than dramatic interventions. “If you can avoid driving on rainy nights from spring to fall, you’ll probably help an awful lot of amphibians,” said Dunn.
She also stressed the importance of protecting both wetlands and the surrounding forests salamanders rely on throughout the year. “The vernal pools and the migration get a lot of attention,” Dunn said, “but for almost the whole rest of the year, they’re in woodlands. So we have to think about both of those things.”
Pinney agreed, noting that one of the most effective ways humans can help wildlife is sometimes by simply minimizing disruption. “One of the best things we can do is nothing,” she said. Pinney explained that ecosystems are incredibly complex and humans often assume we know better, when in reality we don’t fully understand all the interactions happening around us. Rather than constantly engineering new solutions, she suggested people should focus on minimizing disruption and supporting natural processes already in place.