Ambystoma mavortium and tigrinum

Adults: Adults have smooth, somewhat slippery skin, a long  tail, and four toes on each forefoot, and can reach a maximum total length of about 13.6 inches (34.6 cm). Their color pattern is highly variable, and ranges from black with yellowish bars or spots to pale or dark with dark spots.

Larvae: Larvae are about 0.5 to 0.6 inches (9 to 14 mm) long with no limbs when they first hatch. As the larvae grow, they develop limbs, their coloring varies, and they can reach up to 13.8 inches (35 cm) in length.

Eggs: Females lay eggs one at a time or in short rows or small clusters. The eggs are usually 0.1 to 0.2 inches (2 to 4 mm) in diameter, and brown on the upper surface, and are surrounded by a jelly covering of thin, dense, inner coats and a thick, soft, outer coat; the whole unit is less than 0.4 inches (10 mm) in diameter.
 

The range of this species extends from portions of southern Canada southward through much of the United States and as far south as Puebla, Mexico. Western tiger salamander (A. mavortium) and Eastern tiger salamander (A. tigrinum) meet in the Great Plains region, where their distributions meld. Tiger salamanders are absent from most of the Great Basin, most of the western United States west of the Rocky Mountains, New England, and the Appalachians. They have been introduced in many localities west of the Rocky Mountains. Their elevational range extends to about 12,000 feet.

Tiger salamanders will live on land in almost any habitat as long as it includes a lake, reservoir, permanent and ephemeral pond, stream pool, or similar body of water where they can breed. They live anywhere from warm valleys to high mountains and spend much of their lives in rodent burrows. Most tiger salamanders migrate seasonally from their land-based habitat to water bodies where they breed.

The timing of migrations and breeding varies a lot throughout the tiger salamander's range. In general, they breed in spring in northern areas and at high elevations; in winter in southern areas; in late winter, spring, or summer in the Southwest; and in late winter or early spring in the mid-Atlantic states. Larvae metamorphose in their first or second summer, or they may not metamorphose at all; they may become sexually mature as gilled larvae. As with most other land-dwelling amphibians, most of their land-based activity occurs during and after rains. They are not very active in freezing weather and during periods of drought.