In search of the slippery salamander

It’s possible to hike hundreds of miles in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and never see a salamander. Even so, an exceptional number of the amphibians make their home in the mountains.  Scientists have identified 31 species of salamander in the Smokies and might be on the precipice of adding another. They range from tiny […]

An annual checkup for salamanders

Pay a visit to Chimneys Picnic Area in Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the first days of spring, and chances are you’ll hear the cheerful sounds of families enjoying meals together, downy woodpeckers drumming on the bark of deciduous trees, and a few small groups of students talking intently amongst themselves as they carefully […]

An Appalachian salamander’s glow could shed light on a biological mystery

Three years ago, researchers from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota captured the attention of biologists around the world with a surprising discovery. After observing a number of frogs, salamanders, and newts under blue and ultraviolet light, the team found that every amphibian they tested could glow, or ‘biofluoresce.’ Although biofluorescence has been studied predominately […]

When the student becomes the teacher

The more you know, the more you care, the better you can do. It’s a naïve thought, but it’s what I choose to believe, especially in my capacity as Great Smoky Mountains Association’s 2022 Steve Kemp Writer in Residence. I shared this thought with an Illinois family I met on a late summer hike to […]

Scientists discover new salamander species hiding in plain sight

Until recently, it was thought that 30 species of salamander live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But a recent article in Bionomia, the international journal devoted to biological naming, announced that what was believed to be one species of salamander has been found to actually consist of at least four distinct species, two of […]