A former Professor of Biology at a major U.S. college told me the same thing about that salamander looking like a Smallmouth. I admit it's shape is odd, but according to Harding's "Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region" the way to differentiate Smallmouths from Jefferson's is that Smallmouths do not have flecking on their sides.

Conant uses toe length to ID Jefferson's, but it's unclear from the pics if the back toes are long.

It would be cool if it's a Smallmouth, as I've never seen one before.

Tim

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