| Inyo Mountains salamander | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Genus: | Batrachoseps |
| Species: | B. campi |
| Binomial name | |
| Batrachoseps campi | |
The Inyo Mountains salamander (Batrachoseps campi) or Inyo slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae that is endemic to the Inyo Mountains of California [1] in the western United States.
Batrachoseps campi is one of the largest slender salamanders, a genus otherwise mainly made up of very small species, and can grow to over 6 cm in length. It has a relatively broad head, and is colored brown with numerous gray speckles. These speckles often cover most of the salamander, making it appear silvery-gray. Like all Batrachoseps salamanders, it has only four toes on its hind feet. It has no dorsal stripe, a trait shared within Batrachoseps only with Batrachoseps gabrieli . [2]
Batrachoseps campi is endemic to the Inyo Mountains and limited to 20 known localities, located in Inyo County in eastern California, occupying a wide range of elevations from 550–2,450 metres (1,800–8,040 ft). [2]
The Inyo Mountains are extremely dry, especially at low elevations, resulting in Batrachoseps campi being largely restricted to small permanent springs inside steep canyons on both sides of the range. However, pitfall traps have recorded individuals far from these water sources, indicating that the species' underground distribution may occupy significantly more of the mountain range. [2]
Despite the nearby White Mountains (which are connected to the Inyo Mountains to the south) having similar canyon springs with riparian-restricted endemic species that overlap with the range of this species (such as the Panamint alligator lizard), Batrachoseps campi has never been recorded in the White Mountains or at any springs north of Waucoba canyon. The northernmost and southernmost localities where B. campi has been recorded are separated by only about 40 km. [2]
Batrachoseps campi eats small insects and invertebrates. No eggs have ever been found, but it is assumed that this species reproduces like all other Batrachoseps slender salamanders without an aquatic larval stage. [3]
Batrachoseps campi has no described subspecies. However, the springs it occupies are effectively completely isolated from each other due to the vast expanses of extremely dry desert mountain terrain separating them, and as such some subpopulations show significant genetic deviation from salamanders in other localities. [4]
It is genetically most closely related to Batrachoseps robustus (Kern Plateau slender salamander), a species found across the Owens Valley on the Kern Plateau i the Sierra Nevada, and Batrachoseps wrighti (Oregon slender salamander), a species found in northern Oregon. [3] This is of particular note because B. wrighti is the furthest slender salamander geographically from either of the other two species, implying that B. campi has been isolated from the rest of the slender salamanders for a relatively long time. [4]
Batrachoseps campi is listed as a California species of special concern and as a sensitive species by the Bureau of Land Management. [2] The mountain range where it resides is extremely remote and primarily consists of publicly owned land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Inyo National Forest, resulting in limited threats from private development (though mining and stream diversions have historically threatened various subpopulations). [3] Habitat damage from grazing cattle has also been reported. [3]
The Tehachapi slender salamander is a species of plethodontid salamander, and one of the larger members of genus Batrachoseps. It is endemic to California, in Kern County in the western United States.
The Kern Canyon slender salamander is a plethodontid salamander.
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.
The black-bellied slender salamander is a small species of salamander that is endemic to California.
The San Gabriel slender salamander is a species of salamander. It has a worm-like body, a large head and large limbs, and an elongate cylindrical tail of less than 1.5 times its body length. An adult salamander is between 3 and 5 cm long. It has a black dorsum with white, coppery, and orange blotches, and an immaculate black venter. It may have red spots on tail.
The Greenhorn Mountains are a mountain range of the Southern Sierra Nevada, in California. They are protected within the Sequoia National Forest.
The California slender salamander is a lungless salamander that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in a limited part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California, in patches of the northern Central Valley of California, and in extreme southwestern Oregon. This species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state.
The Gabilan Mountains slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to California in the United States, where it is distributed along the Central Coast region from Santa Cruz to northern Kern County.
The gregarious slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. Its natural habitats are California interior chaparral and woodlands and temperate grasslands in the lower foothills of the western Sierra Nevada and the eastern Central Valley in California, United States.
The Santa Lucia Mountains slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to California in the United States, where it is known only from Monterey County.
The Garden slender salamander or Southern California slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to northern Baja California in Mexico and Southern California in the United States.
The Channel Islands slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. Due to cool and foggy conditions on the islands where it lives, it is one of the only slender salamanders in California that can be active year-round.
The relictual slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to California, found only a small area in Kern County, California.
The Kern Plateau salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to California, in Tulare and Inyo, and Kern Counties in the western United States.
The Oregon slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae from the Northwestern United States.
The Arguello slender salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to California, where it is found only in a small area of coastal Santa Barbara County.
