Yellow Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)

Discover our 3D-printable Yellow Spotted Salamander, scientifically known as Ambystoma maculatum. This captivating model offers a stunning visual representation of this remarkable species.

The Yellow Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, is a striking amphibian found in the woodlands and forests of North America. Named for its distinct yellow spots that adorn its sleek, black body, this species is celebrated for its elusive and mysterious behavior. Its unique appearance, along with its ecological importance, has made it a subject of interest for both naturalists and scientists.

The scientific name, Ambystoma maculatum, has a fascinating breakdown. “Ambystoma” is derived from the Greek words “amblys,” meaning blunt, and “stoma,” meaning mouth. This name reflects the salamander’s broad head and rounded snout, perfectly adapted for its underground burrowing habits. “Maculatum” originates from the Latin word “macula,” signifying a spot or stain, which aptly describes the salamander’s signature yellow spots that distinguish it from other species.

In the wild, these salamanders’ life cycles are intricately tied to vernal pools, temporary wetlands that provide safe breeding grounds for this species. The Yellow Spotted Salamander’s secretive nature adds to its allure, as it remains hidden beneath logs and leaf litter for most of the year, emerging during rainy spring nights to breed and lay its eggs.

The 3D printable, digital files are in STL format. They’re scaled to life-size and ready for you to print and paint them. Add a tangible representation of this unique amphibian to your collection.

This Yellow Spotted Salamander is 17cm long, which is a little smaller than average for this species but the smaller default size makes the model fit better on most resin printers. If you would like to print a realistically large one, we recommend printing it at %146 scale or 1.46X the default size. This would result in a 25cm salamander (total length) model, which is the upper range of their average size.

The STL files are packaged in a .zip archive for ease of file-organization and download.

We successfully printed the Yellow Spotted Salamander STL on a resin-based 3D-printer.

We successfully printed this model in grey resin on an LCD 3D printer using these settings:

• Layer height: 0.05mm
• Hollowed: True
  • Wall thickness: 2mm
  • Infill: 10%
  • 3mm drainage holes at the bottom-most surface based on printing orientation (in our case, at the bottom of the curve of the tail), and on the flat surface of the belly.

Feel free to use these settings as a guide or use your own preferred settings. They’re just the settings that we used when printing.

Due to the nature of resin printing, you will have to determine your own exposure settings because they are different for every brand of resin and printer.