Smith's False Brook Salamander

Smith's false brook salamander is a large species that can grow to 14.6 centimetres (5.7 in), half of which is tail. It has a wide head and large paratoid glands behind the eyes. There are twelve to fifteen costal grooves on either side of the body and the tail is prehensile and has a constriction at its base. The limbs are slender and the fingers and toes completely or partially webbed. The back is dark brown, the sides olive brown with black bars and the belly pale. The chin is cream coloured with brown speckles and the sides of the tail have black spots.

Pseudoeurycea smithi occurs in several mountain ranges in north west Oaxaca State, Mexico, at an altitude of between 2,500 and 3,000 metres (8,200 and 9,800 ft) above sea level. Its natural habitat is pine forests and it is often found hidden under loose bark on fallen logs. In the past it has demonstrated that it can adapt to living in secondary forest after destruction of the virgin forest.