The red-backed (or redback) salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a small, hardy woodland salamander. It inhabits wooded slopes in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to North Carolina, and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada to Minnesota. It is also known as the eastern red-backed salamander or the northern red-backed salamander to distinguish it from the southern red-backed salamander (Plethodon serratus). It is one of 55 species in the genus Plethodon.