Blacksburg salamander

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Blacksburg salamander
Plethodon jacksoni.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Plethodontidae
Subfamily: Plethodontinae
Genus: Plethodon
Species:
P. jacksoni
Binomial name
Plethodon jacksoni
Newman, 1954
Synonyms [2]
  • Plethodon wehrlei jacksoniCochran, 1961
  • Plethodon wehrlei (in part) Highton, 1962

The Blacksburg salamander (Plethodon jacksoni) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. [2] It is endemic to the Southeastern United States, where it is restricted to a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia (and possibly neighboring portions of North Carolina). Its common name refers the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, as many specimens were initially found in the vicinity of the town.

Contents

Description

Plethodon jacksoni is very similar in appearance to the Wehrle's salamander (P. wehrlei) in both proportions and color. It is slender in build, with a rounded head, large eyes, and a short snout. Males can reach up to 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in total length (11.6 cm (4.6 in) on average), with females up to 13.3 cm (5.2 in), 12.5 cm (4.9 in) on average. Broadly speaking, P. jacksoni are larger than P. dixi and smaller than P. wehrlei. Mature males have a prominent mental gland on the chin and swellings above the base of the tail, while females have proportionally longer bodies. [3]

The background color is dark bluish gray, with the back as the darkest part of the body. The throat and belly are lighter, though there is little consistency between specimens regarding the distribution of light coloration on the underside. Distinctive white blotches typically occur on the sides and limbs and sometimes encroach onto the belly. Silvery mottling and tiny white flecks may be present on the back and tail. Some individuals, including the holotype, have sparse but distinctive reddish-orange spots on the back. [3]

Taxonomy

Plethodon jacksoni was formally described in 1954 based on several specimens collected from Montgomery County, Virginia. The species was named in honor of Herbert Jackson, a biologist at Virginia Tech. [3] Shortly after its initial description, it was considered to be a southern population of Plethodon wehrlei [4] [5] and was lumped into that species for many years. A 2019 study once again recovered Plethodon jacksoni as a valid species according to the distinctiveness of its mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. In conjunction, this analysis found P. wehrlei to be a paraphyletic taxon. [2] [6] [7] This conclusion supports earlier genomic studies published in 2012 [8] and 2018. [9] Plethodon jacksoni diverged from its closest relatives around 4.6 million years ago according to a 2018 estimate. [9]

Not all taxonomic issues within P. jacksoni were solved during the 2019 study: several other salamander populations were found to lie close to the Montgomery County specimens of P. jacksoni, indicating that its geographic range and genetic diversity may be higher than previously considered. These additional potential populations of Plethodon jacksoni include the "southern wehrlei" clade (which extends as far south as North Carolina) and "population 29" (from Roanoke County, Virginia). [2] [9] It remains to be seen whether this broader notion of the species is natural or paraphyletic. [2]

Habitat and distribution

The natural habitat of Plethodon jacksoni is temperate forest. [2] It can be found sheltering under rocks and logs on dry hillsides during the late winter and early spring. Some members of the species live in caves, even during parts of the year where they are not observed on the surface. [3] Plethodon jacksoni is most frequently observed in Montgomery County, Virginia, though it has also been reported from Giles, Craig, and possibly Pittsylvania counties. [3] The "southern wehrlei" salamander population, which may be closely related or within P. jacksoni, [2] occurs as far south as northwestern North Carolina (Stokes and Alleghany counties). [9] [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Plethodon</i> Genus of amphibians

Plethodon is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are commonly known as woodland salamanders. All members of the genus are endemic to North America. They have no aquatic larval stage. In some species, such as the red-backed salamander. Young hatch in the adult form. Members of Plethodon primarily eat small invertebrates. The earliest known fossils of this genus are from the Hemphillian of Tennessee in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wehrle's salamander</span> Species of amphibian

Wehrle's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Eastern United States. It is named in honor of Richard White Wehrle (1852–1937), a jeweler, naturalist, and collector of the holotype.

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

The Cheat Mountain salamander is a species of small woodland salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species is found only on Cheat Mountain, and a few nearby mountains, in the eastern highlands of West Virginia. It and the West Virginia spring salamander are the only vertebrate species with geographic ranges restricted to that state.

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

The Cheoah Bald salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the state of North Carolina in the United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests and it is threatened by habitat loss. It was formerly considered a variant of the red-cheeked salamander until it was found to be a distinct species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunn's salamander</span> Species of amphibian

Dunn's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the western United States.

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

The northern ravine salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. The species is endemic to the United States.

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

The Fourche Mountain salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the Ouachita Mountains in the central United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests and it is threatened by habitat loss.

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

The red-cheeked salamander, also known as the Jordan's salamander, Jordan's redcheek salamander, or Appalachian woodland salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.

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

The Cumberland Plateau salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau, the southeastern United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

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

The Kiamichi slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae endemic to the United States, has a natural habitat of temperate forests, and is found over a small range. This nocturnal species is mainly threatened by habitat loss and was first described by Highton in 1989. It is rated as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The South Mountain gray-cheeked salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the state of North Carolina in the United States, where it is only found in the South Mountains. It was formerly considered a variant of the red-cheeked salamander. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

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

Plethodon punctatus, commonly known as the Cow Knob salamander or white-spotted salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to high mountain forests on the border of Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. Nearly all occurrences are on Shenandoah Mountain, Nathaniel Mountain and Great North Mountain in George Washington National Forest. Cow Knob salamanders are a member of the P. wehrlei species complex, which includes many other Appalachian salamanders historically referred to Plethodon wehrlei.

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

The Sequoyah slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weller's salamander</span> Species of amphibian

Weller's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. This species in endemic to the southeastern mountain range of the United States. It is mainly found in North Carolina near Grandfather Mountain. The salamanders have a unique metallic spotting which distinguishes them from other Plethodon species and other salamanders in the area. They mainly inhabit cool forests with rocky areas.

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

The Yonahlossee salamander is a particularly large woodland salamander from the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The species is a member of the family Plethodontidae, which is characterized by being lungless and reproductive direct development. P. yonahlossee was first described in 1917 by E.R Dunn on a collection site on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. The common and specific name is of Native American origin, meaning “trail of the bear”. It is derived from Yonahlossee Road northeast of Linville, where the specimen was first described.

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

The Ocmulgee slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the state of Georgia in the United States, where it is found in regions of the coastal plain and Piedmont that are associated with the Ocmulgee River drainage system. It is only known from a few counties, and due to this restricted range, it is at high risk of extinction. Many populations of this species are already experiencing precipitous declines, with some even possibly being extirpated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah slimy salamander</span> Species of salamander

The Savannah slimy salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the state of Georgia in the United States, where it is restricted to the Atlantic coastal plain in Burke, Jefferson, and Richmond counties. This distribution reaches its eastern limit at the Savannah River. Its natural habitat is bottomland hardwood forest. Population analysis indicates a precipitous decline in the population of this species, and it is becoming extirpated in many areas due to development; for example, the habitat at the type locality of this species was partially destroyed by a housing development.

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

The Dixie Caverns salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the state of Virginia in the United States. It is most often found in Roanoke County, but several specimens have been recorded in surrounding counties. It was commonly confused with Wehrle's salamander and was merged with that species shortly after description, but a 2019 study reaffirmed it as a distinct species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-spotted woodland salamander</span> Species of amphibian

The yellow-spotted woodland salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States, where it is distributed throughout the Cumberland Plateau in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. Its natural habitat is temperate forest. It was long considered to be both an isolated western population and a unique yellow-spotted color morph of the Wehrle's salamander, but a study published in 2019 found it to be a distinct species.


The flat-headed salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States, where it is known from Virginia and likely North Carolina.

References

  1. ↑ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2023). "Plethodon jacksoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2023: e.T152360261A152360335. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T152360261A152360335.en . Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Camp, Carlos D.; Pierson, Todd W.; Wooten, Jessica A.; Felix, Zachary I. (2019-05-24). "Re-evaluation of the Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei Fowler and Dunn) species group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) using genomic data, with the description of a new species". Zootaxa. 4609 (3): 429–448. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4609.3.2. ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   31717092. S2CID   181533495.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Newman, Walter B. (1954). "A New Plethodontid Salamander from Southwestern Virginia". Herpetologica. 10 (1): 9–14. ISSN   0018-0831. JSTOR   20171296.
  4. ↑ Cochran, D.M. (1961) Type specimens of reptiles and amphibians in the US National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 220, 1–291.
  5. ↑ Highton, R. (1962) Revision of North American salamanders of the genus Plethodon. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, 6, 235–367.
  6. ↑ "AmphibiaWeb - Plethodon jacksoni". amphibiaweb.org. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "AmphibiaWeb - Plethodon wehrlei". amphibiaweb.org. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Highton, Richard; Hastings, Amy Picard; Palmer, Catherine; Watts, Richard; Hass, Carla A.; Culver, Melanie; Arnold, Stevan J. (2012). "Concurrent speciation in the eastern woodland salamanders (Genus Plethodon): DNA sequences of the complete albumin nuclear and partial mitochondrial 12s genes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (2): 278–290. Bibcode:2012MolPE..63..278H. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.018. PMID   22230029.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Kuchta, Shawn R.; Brown, Ashley D.; Highton, Richard (2018). "Disintegrating over space and time: Paraphyly and species delimitation in the Wehrle's Salamander complex". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (3): 285–299. doi:10.1111/zsc.12281. ISSN   0300-3256.
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