Pacific giant salamander
Pacific giant salamanders | |
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Dicamptodon tenebrosus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
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Suborder: | |
Family: | Dicamptodontidae
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Genus: | Dicamptodon Ruiz-Carranza & Lynch, 1991
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Species | |
four extant species |
Pacific giant salamanders (Dicamptodontidae) are a family of large salamanders from the United States and Canada.
Description
Specimens are up to 30 cm (12 in) long, and are found in the western United States and southwestern British Columbia. Except for their size, they are similar to the mole salamander family (Ambystomatidae), in which they were originally included.[1]
While most salamanders are silent, the Pacific giant salamander is one of several salamanders that have vocal abilities. When startled, these salamanders may respond with a croaky-sounding cry similar to that of a barking dog. Members of this family can either be terrestrial or aquatic as adults.
Taxonomy
The family includes only a single genus, Dicamptodon. The genus was formerly thought to contain two species, Cope's giant salamander (D. copei) on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, and the Pacific giant salamander (D. ensatus) which consisted of three geographic populations, an Idaho isolate, a group in northern California, and a group in Oregon and Washington.[2] In 1989, genetic studies showed D. copei to be a distinct species, and the D. ensatus populations to consist of three species: the Idaho giant salamander (D. aterrimus) in Idaho, and two highly divergent species with a narrow hybrid zone in California, the coastal giant salamander (D. tenebrosus) (ranging from northern California to Washington), and the California giant salamander (D. ensatus) (limited only from Santa Cruz County to Mendocino County in California).[3]
Extant Species
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
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Dicamptodon aterrimus | Idaho giant salamander | forested watersheds from lake Coeur d’Alene to the Salmon River, and in two locations in Montana around Mineral County, Idaho | |
Dicamptodon copei | Cope's giant salamander | Olympic Peninsula to northern Oregon | |
Dicamptodon ensatus | California giant salamander | Northern California | |
Dicamptodon tenebrosus | Coastal giant salamander | Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia. |
References
- ^ Frost, Darrel R., Grant, Taran, Faivovich, Julián, Bain, Raoul H, Haas, Alexander, Haddad, Celio F. B, De Sa, Rafael O, Channing, A, Wilkinson, Mark, Donnellan, Stephen C, Raxworthy, Christopher J., Campbell, Jonathan A., Blotto, Boris L., Moler, Paul., Drewes, Robert C., Nussbaum, Ronald A., Lynch, John D., Green, David M., Wheeler, Ward C. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the AMNH; no. 297 (http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5781/1/B297.pdf)
- ^ Ronald A. Nussbaum (1976-04-23). "Geographic variation and systematics of salamanders of the genus Dicamptodon Strauch (Ambystomatidae)" (PDF). Miscellaneous Publications Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, No. 149. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
- ^ David A. Goode (July 1989). "Hybridization and Cryptic Species in Dicamptodon (Caudata: dicamptodontidae)". Evolution. 43: 728–744. doi:10.2307/2409302. JSTOR 2409302.
External links
- Data related to Dicamptodon at Wikispecies
- Media related to Dicamptodon at Wikimedia Commons
- Tree of Life: Dicamptodontidae
- Dicamptodon at CalPhotos