San Marcos salamander
| San Marcos salamander | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Genus: | Eurycea |
| Species: | E. nana
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| Binomial name | |
| Eurycea nana Bishop, 1941
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The San Marcos salamander (Eurycea nana) is a small species of aquatic, lungless salamander native to the United States, endemic to Spring Lake and a small region of the headwaters of the San Marcos River near Aquarena Springs, in Hays County, Texas. It is one to two inches long, with a slender body and external gills, and is a reddish-brown in color.
Conservation status
The San Marcos salamander has been federally listed as a threatened species since 1980. Due to its extremely limited geographic range, it is threatened by a number of things, but primarily from the contamination of ground water sources and heavy dependence of central Texas cities upon the Edwards Aquifer for water.
References
- Chippindale, P.T., A.H. Price, Wiens, J.J. & Hillis, D.M. (2000): Phylogenetic relationships of central Texas hemidactyliine plethodontid salamanders, genus Eurycea, and a taxonomic revision of the group. Herpetological Monographs 14: 1-80.
- Hillis, D.M., Chamberlain, D.A., Wilcox, T.P., & Chippindale, P.T. (2001): A new species of subterranean blind salamander (Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliini: Eurycea: Typhlomolge) from Austin, Texas, and a systematic revision of central Texas paedomorphic salamanders. Herpetologica 57: 266–280.
External links
- Texas Parks & Wildlife: San Marcos Salamander
- US Fish & Wildlife Service: San Marcos Salamander
- Amphibian Species of the World: Eurycea nana
- Animal Diversity Web: Eurycea nana
- IUCN Red List: Eurycea nana
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