Most salamanders look for shelter from cool weather in the fall. However, one species is leaving its underground world to breed now.

Instead of depositing eggs directly in the water like most salamanders, the female marbled salamander lays up to 200 eggs in a small depression of leaf litter or under a log. She then guards the eggs and waits for rain to come.

The eggs hatch out after only a few days of being soaked, but the young won’t mature until the following spring. Forested wetlands and floodplains must be protected in order to keep this species common in Georgia.