[4] The pygmy salamander can be found in the southern Appalachians of the United States in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

Geographical distribution of the Desmognathus wrighti is fragmented and the highest abundance of the species can be found at high elevations in spruce and fir tree forest.

[5] Desmognathus wrighti has a light belly with a gold-colored iridophore pattern that extends from the abdomen to the anterior of the cloacal vent.

The pygmy salamander's natural habitat includes temperate forests, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs.

[3] The genus Desmognathus consists of nineteen species which all vary in body size, life history, and habitat.

Findings show differences in snout-vent length, body condition, and head width, suggesting that there are two distinct and separately evolving lineages in Desmognathus wrighti.

Differences of D. organi from its sister taxon includes a slightly larger body length, wider heads, and the ventral gold iridophore patterns are absent.

The species is found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee south of the French Broad River.

In Tennessee, D. wrighti inhabits the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Blount, Cocke, and Sevier counties.

The distribution of the salamander primarily lies adjacent to areas of red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser's fir (Abies fraseri) forests at these high elevations.

[6] In its known geographical locations the pygmy salamander can primarily be found in moist depressions such as under logs and rocks along streams, in damp leaf litter, and in mossy areas.

The female in return turns towards the male and places her chin on his laterally undulating tail so that they rotate in full circle.

[4] The male then deposits a spermatophore on the ground which is followed by the female picking up a sperm cap with her cloacal lips as she moves forward undulating her pelvic area.

[9] Desmognathus wrighti females have an average clutch size of 8 to 9 eggs which are suspended by a single attachment stalk and develop between 4 and 25 oocytes.

Acid rain is also a threat at the high elevation that can destroy the spruce-fir trees in the pygmy salamander's natural habitat.