Amplexus is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same time or with some time delay, he fertilizes the eggs as they are released from the female's body. In amphibians, females may be grasped by the head, waist, or armpits, and the type of amplexus is characteristic of some taxonomic groups. Amplexus involves direct contact between male and female, distinguished from other forms of external fertilization such as broadcast spawning, where sperm and eggs are freely shed into water without direct contact by individuals.
The North Santiam River is a 92-mile (148 km) tributary of the Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains 766 square miles (1,980 km2) of the Cascade Range on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley east of Salem.
Corixidae is a family of aquatic insects in the order Hemiptera. They are found worldwide in virtually any freshwater habitat and a few species live in saline water. There are about 500 known species worldwide, in 33 genera, including the genus Sigara.
The Siskiyou Mountains salamander, Plethodon stormi, also called the Siskiyou Mountain salamander, exists only in isolated locations along the Klamath River in northern California and southern Oregon. It is a close relative of the Del Norte salamander, and some herpetologists believe it may be a subspecies of that animal.
The northwestern salamander inhabits the northwest Pacific Coast of North America. These fairly large salamanders grow to 8.7 in (220 mm) in length. It is found from southeastern Alaska on May Island, through Washington and Oregon south to the mouth of the Gulala River, Sonoma County, California. It occurs from sea level to the timberline, but not east of the Cascade Divide. Its range includes Vancouver Island in British Columbia and The San Juan Islands, Cypress, Whidbey, Bainbridge, and Vashon Islands in Washington.
The genus Taricha consists of four species of highly poisonous newts in the family Salamandridae. Their common name is Pacific newts, sometimes also western newts or roughskin newts. The four species within this genus are the California newt, the rough-skinned newt, the red-bellied newt, and the sierra newt, all of which are found on the Pacific coastal region from southern Alaska to southern California, with one species possibly ranging into northern Baja California, Mexico.
The Mount Jefferson Wilderness is a wilderness area located on and around Mount Jefferson in the central Cascade Range of Oregon in the United States. It is situated where the Willamette, Deschutes, and Mount Hood National Forests meet. Mount Jefferson Wilderness is the second most visited Oregon wilderness area after the Three Sisters Wilderness.
Glossiphoniidae are the family called freshwater jawless leeches or glossiphoniids. They are one of the main groups of Rhynchobdellida, true leeches with a proboscis. These leeches are generally flattened, and have a poorly defined anterior sucker. Most suck the blood of freshwater vertebrates like amphibians and aquatic turtles, but some feed on the hemolymph of invertebrates like oligochaetes and freshwater snails instead.
The Tulameen River is a tributary of the Similkameen River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tulameen River is part of the Columbia River drainage basin, being a tributary of the Similkameen River, which flows into the Okanagan River, which flows into the Columbia River.
The Crater Lake newt or Mazama newt, Taricha granulosa mazamae, is a subspecies of the rough-skinned newt. Its type locality is Crater Lake, Oregon. Similar newts have been found in Alaska, but their identity is unclear.
A nuptial pad is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland appears as a spiked epithelial swelling on the forearm and prepollex that aids with grip, which is used primarily by males to grasp females during amplexus. They can also be used in male-male combat in some species.
Megalobatrachonema is a nematode genus. Species of this genus are parasites of a number of amphibians including the rough-skinned newt.
Karotomorpha is a genus of parasites with a flagellum structure. This organism can infect a variety of higher life forms including a number of amphibians. For example, this genus is known to be a parasite of the rough-skinned newt, a widespread newt in the western USA.
Cephalouterina is a genus of trematodes within the family Lecithodendriidae under the order Plagiorchiida. Individuals of this genus are known to use amphibian hosts.
Cephalouterina decamptodoni is a species of trematodes within the family Lecithodendriidae under the order Plagiorchiida. This species is sometimes known to use amphibian hosts.
Tritrichomonas is a genus of single celled flagellated parasitic excavates, some of whose species are known to be pathogens of the bovine reproductive tract as well as the intestinal tract of felines.
Cosmocercoides is a genus of nematode within the order Ascaridida. Nematodes within the genus Cosmocercoides have been found as parasites within the rough-skinned newt, Taricha granulosa. Cosmocercoides includes the following species:
Marion Lake is an alpine lake located in Linn County of the U.S. state of Oregon. The lake is in central Oregon's Cascades within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. The lake is approximately 300 acres (1.2 km2), at an elevation of 4,134 feet (1,260 m).
Perennibranchiate, in zoology, is the condition of an organism retaining branchae, or gills, through life. This condition is generally said of certain amphibia, such as the mudpuppy. The term is opposed to caducibranchiate. In some cases only a small proportion of a given amphibian population is perennibranchiate, but in other instances a preponderance of the individuals have an adult gill retention. For example, in the case of the Rough-skinned Newt in the Cascade Mountains populations, approximately ninety percent of the adult population is perennibranchiate.
