Slender salamander

Slender salamanders
	Batrachoseps attenuatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Family:	Plethodontidae
Subfamily:	Hemidactyliinae
Genus:	Batrachoseps ; Bonaparte, 1839
Species
	See table

Last updated May 02, 2024

Batrachoseps is a genus of lungless salamanders (plethodontids) often called slender salamanders . They can be distinguished from other lungless salamanders by the four toes they have on each foot.

Diet and physiology

The lungless salamanders, in addition to having no lungs, have long slender snake-shaped bodies with very small limbs that appear almost vestigial in several species.^[1] Their main diet consists of small insects, such as springtails, small bark beetles, crickets, young snails, mites, and spiders. Like all salamanders in this family, they have long frog-like projectile tongues which they use to grab their prey in a flash.

Unlike all other amphibians (and birds, and lizards, and nearly all fish) mature red blood cells in species in the genus Batrachoseps have no nucleus, which is a trait that is only known to occur in mammals and certain species of antarctic fish.^[2]

Distribution

Batrachoseps range from Oregon and California (USA) to northern Baja California (Mexico). Slender salamanders in California tolerate diverse variety of environments, as long as their basic needs are met.^[3]

Species

21 species are recognized in this genus, but their taxonomy is uncertain. Some species may in fact be subspecies of others, and some subspecies may be distinct species of their own. Genetic analysis is in process.

Common Name	Scientific name	Year described	Distribution
Greenhorn Mountains slender salamander	Batrachoseps altasierrae	Jockusch et al., 2012	Kern and Tulare counties, California, USA
California slender salamander	Batrachoseps attenuatus	Eschscholtz, 1833	Sierra Nevada, California, and northern Central Valley of California, and southwestern Oregon.
Fairview slender salamander	Batrachoseps bramei	Jockusch, et al., 2012	California
Inyo Mountains slender salamander	Batrachoseps campi	Marlow, Brode & Wake, 1979	Inyo County of eastern California
Hell Hollow slender salamander	Batrachoseps diabolicus	Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998	California, in Mariposa County
San Gabriel slender salamander	Batrachoseps gabrieli	Wake, 1996	San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California
Gabilan Mountains slender salamander	Batrachoseps gavilanensis	Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001	Central Coast region from Santa Cruz to northern Kern County, California
Gregarious slender salamander	Batrachoseps gregarius	Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998	western Sierra Nevada and the eastern Central Valley in California
San Simeon slender salamander	Batrachoseps incognitus	Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001	south-western Monterey and northern San Luis Obispo Counties, California
Sequoia slender salamander	Batrachoseps kawia	Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998	Tulare County, California
San Lucia Mountains slender salamander	Batrachoseps luciae	Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001	Monterey County, California
Garden slender salamander	Batrachoseps major	Camp, 1915	northern Baja California in Mexico and Southern California, United States
Lesser slender salamander	Batrachoseps minor	Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 1998	San Luis Obispo County, California
Black-bellied slender salamander	Batrachoseps nigriventris	Cope, 1869	California.
Pacific slender salamander	Batrachoseps pacificus	(Cope, 1865)	Channel Islands of California.
King's River slender salamander	Batrachoseps regius	Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998	Fresno County, California.
Relictual slender salamander	Batrachoseps relictus	Brame & Murray, 1968	Kern County, California.
Kern Plateau slender salamander	Batrachoseps robustus	Wake, Yanev & Hansen, 2002	Tulare and Inyo, and Kern Counties, California.
Kern Canyon slender salamander	Batrachoseps simatus	Brame & Murray, 1968	Kern Counties, California.
Tehachapi slender salamander	Batrachoseps stebbinsi	Brame & Murray, 1968	Kern Counties, California.
Arguello slender salamander	Batrachoseps wakei	Sweet & Jockusch, 2021	Santa Barbara County, California
Oregon slender salamander	Batrachoseps wrighti	(Bishop, 1937)	Oregon,

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden slender salamander</span> Species of slender salamander

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon slender salamander</span> Species of amphibian

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Bolitoglossa is a genus of lungless salamanders, also called mushroom-tongued salamanders, tropical climbing salamanders, or web-footed salamanders, in the family Plethodontidae. Their range is between northern Mexico through Central America to Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, northeastern Brazil, and central Bolivia. Neotropical salamanders of the Bolitoglossa make up the largest genus in the order Caudata, consisting of approximately one-fifth of all known species of salamanders. Adult salamanders range anywhere from 45mm to 200mm in length depending on their specific species. They are notorious for their ability to project their tongue at prey items, as indicated from their name. They are also known for their webbed feet, having significantly more webbing than any other species outside their genus with the exception of the cave-dwelling Mexican bolitoglossine Chiropterotriton magnipes. Although webbed feet are a common characteristic of these salamanders, only about half of the species in this genus contain webbed feet.

Dendrotriton or bromeliad salamanders is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to South and Central America: from Southwestern Chiapas, Mexico, to Honduras. These are lungless species possessing a slender body, long tail and prominent eyes. They inhabit high-elevation forests with high humidity.

Hydromantes, commonly referred to as web-toed salamanders, is a genus of the lungless salamander family, Plethodontidae; they achieve respiration through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. They are endemic to mountains of California in the United States. Salamanders of this genus are distinguished in having extremely long tongues that they can project to 80% of their body length. Similar species endemic to southern France and Italy are now classified in a distinct genus, Speleomantes.

Oedipina is a genus of lungless salamanders, which is characterized by their absence of lungs; they instead achieve respiration through their skin and the tissues lining their mouth. Species of Oedipina are endemic to Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico. The common name of worm salamanders derives from the species' extraordinarily slender form with tiny limbs and digits.

Parvimolge is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae, the lungless salamanders. It is currently considered as monotypic, although this may yet change as molecular data suggest that it is embedded within a paraphyletic Pseudoeurycea. Parvimolge townsendi is endemic to the northern Sierra Madre de Oaxaca in central and southern Veracruz, Mexico, between 900 and 1900 meters elevation. It is represented by the species Parvimolge townsendi, commonly known as Townsend's dwarf salamander.

Urspelerpes is a monotypic genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. It is represented by a single species, the patch-nosed salamander, a lungless miniature salamander found in streams of Georgia and South Carolina, United States. It marks the first discovery of an endemic amphibian genus from the United States since the Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus) in 1961.

References

↑ Burton, M.; Burton, R. (2002). International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Leopard - marten. Marshall Cavendish. p. 1503. ISBN 978-0-7614-7277-3 . Retrieved January 3, 2020.
↑ Cohen, W. D. (1982). "The cytomorphic system of anucleate non-mammalian erythrocytes". Protoplasma. 113: 23–32. doi:10.1007/BF01283036.
↑ "Slender salamander". www.fritzhaeg.com. Animal Estates / 5.2 California quail. Retrieved 3 February 2019.

External links

Frost, Darrel R (2007). "Batrachoseps". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference (Version 5.1 (10 October 2007) ed.). New York, NY: American Museum of Natural History . Retrieved July 30, 2008. Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php American Museum of Natural History.
"Batrachoseps". AmphibiaWeb. Berkeley, California. 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2008. Information on amphibian biology and conservation AmphibiaWeb is available at http://amphibiaweb.org/.
"Batrachoseps". Tree of Life.
"A slender salamanders page". montereybay.com.

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[1] Burton, M.; Burton, R. (2002). International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Leopard - marten. Marshall Cavendish. p. 1503. ISBN 978-0-7614-7277-3 . Retrieved January 3, 2020.

[2] Cohen, W. D. (1982). "The cytomorphic system of anucleate non-mammalian erythrocytes". Protoplasma. 113: 23–32. doi:10.1007/BF01283036.

[3] "Slender salamander". www.fritzhaeg.com. Animal Estates / 5.2 California quail. Retrieved 3 February 2019.

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