What on earth is this thing?
I recognized the fella but can’t think what it is.
A newt of some sort.
In what part of the world was it spotted?
Tag on the picture says Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Based on a quick search for amphibians in that area, I’d say it’s a northern dusky salamander.
Kentucky
You know, we have a poster here named Pseudotriton ruber ruber. Google it up…
Well, I was close. 
Definitely not a PRR, too little.
For now, though, salamander will do.
I love the caption on the pic: ran into “this little fellow.”
My reaction would have been more like “he was trying to eat my soul.”
C’mon Abbie… That thing is cute and about 4" long. it’s about as dangerous as a snail and about as fierce-looking. You’re tougher than that.
Looks like the salamanders/newts me, my brother, and sister used to catch in Virginai all the time while gorwing up.
My first thought was that it’s a skink. I’m searching Google images to find one with those markings, but so far no luck. The size and shape are right, though.
Hmmm…perhaps Gyrinophilus porphyriticus? Pic:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/james_harding/pcd3912_084.jpg/view.html
I don’t see the diagnostic white stripes on the face, but then the picture is just a bit blurry there and individul variation might produce a less-obviously striped individual.
- Tamerlane
Could it be a hellbender? (Is that not the greatest name in the world? Even if it isn’t one, at least I was able to type it in a post once in my life…)
I was thinking “hellbender” also, just because it looks so big. I can’t really tell from the photo whether it’s 4 inches long or 4 feet long.
I used to want to find a hellbender so damn bad when I was a kid! I would have killed to see my mom’s face if I brought a foot-long salamander home…
<hijack>
I had a student once who brought me a siren in a five gallon paint bucket one day. Let me tell you…those suckers are big, ugly and eerie. I reached into the murky water and picked it up and it shrieked. I hadn’t realized that any amphibian could make that kind of noise.
I also had a kid bring me a huge, painted turtle he’d found. He just chucked that thing right into his back pack and kept walking to school. Then there was the girl who brought in a 6 foot long black rat snake which she said was a family pet. How long had she had it, I asked? Two days she said. And it had never bitten anyone, she said. That may change in the future I said. And please take it off my desk. 
</hijack>
I believe it was spotted regardless of the part of the world in which it existed.