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| Hybrid tiger salamander larvae at various stages of development (Photo Credit: Bruce Delgado, BLM)
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California Tiger Salamander larva
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| Aquatic tiger salamander larvae captured using a seine
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Barred Tiger Salamander larva (Photo Credit: Brad Shaffer).
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Barred Tiger Salamander larva. Larvae are aquatic (notice the external gills and tall tail fin).(Photo Credit: Brad Shaffer).
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Tiger salamanders breed underwater in landlocked ponds
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| Adult California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
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Adult California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
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| Adult Barred Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium)
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Adult Barred Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium)
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| Some species, such as the Mexican Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), are paedomorphs - meaning that they never metamorphose into a terrestrial form and instead become sexually mature and live out their lives in the fully aquatic larval form
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Barred Tiger Salamanders (and hybrids with the proper combination of genes) are facultative paedomorphs, meaning they can metamorphose or they can forgo metamorphosis and live indefinitely as sexually mature paedomorphs. The splotched animal in this photo has just recently completed metamorphosis. The paedomorph was caught in the same pond. Both individuals are hybrids from the Salinas Valley, CA.
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| Hybrid tiger salamanders are not dangerous to humans
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F1 hybrid between the Califonia Tiger Salamander and the Barred Tiger Salamander (Photo Credit: R. Graham Reynolds)
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