text: Description Alpine salamanders are often small in size, and dark brown or black. Members of the subspecies are not wholly black or brown monochrome, but rather have mosaic or spotted patterns. Members of the subspecies Salamandra atra aurorae have bright splotches on its dorsal side and head. The color is often bright yellow, but can range to shades of white or even gray. Distribution of the pigment is dependent on the distribution of certain cells, so may be smooth and even or patchy.
  Female S. atra tend to be larger than the males, and can grow up to 151 millimeters, or around 5.9 inches. Males will grow to around 144 millimeters, or 5.6 inches: both measurements include the tail. Males have swollen, visible cloacae, and are more slender than females. The salamanders have parotid glands posterior and lateral to their eyes, giving them an elongated head shape. They tend to have between 11 and 13 costal grooves along the sides of their bodies, and a double row of dorsal glands runs down their backs on either side of their spines, down to the tips of their tails.
  Coloration
  Most alpine salamanders that are either completely black (melanistic) or predominantly black have the dark pigment as a baseline, but the evolution behind this dark coloring has a winding history. Scientists have studied the hypothesis of if the salamanders start completely black, or if they evolved like that over time. DNA-evidence traced through maternal lineages suggest the latter: that salamanders evolved their black coloration over time.