California salamander may refer to:
 | This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title California salamander. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
California salamander may refer to:
| | This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title California salamander. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by a lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All present-day salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere and most species are found in the Holarctic ecozone, with some species present in the Neotropical zone.
The mole salamanders are a group of advanced salamanders endemic to North America. The group has become famous due to the presence of the axolotl, widely used in research due to its paedomorphosis, and the tiger salamander which is the official amphibian of many states, and often sold as a pet.
The tiger salamander is a species of mole salamander and one of the largest terrestrial salamanders in North America.
The Cryptobranchidae are a family of fully aquatic salamanders commonly known as the giant salamanders. A single species, the hellbender inhabits the eastern United States, with species also inhabiting China and Japan. They are the largest living amphibians known today. The Japanese giant salamander reaches up to 1.44 m (4.7 ft) in length, feeds at night on fish and crustaceans, and has been known to live for more than 50 years in captivity. The South China giant salamander can reach a length of 1.8 m (5.9 ft).
The Pacific giant salamanders are members of the genus Dicamptodon and are large salamanders endemic to the Pacific Northwest in North America.
The torrent salamanders or Cascade salamanders are a family of salamanders (Rhyacotritonidae) with only one genus, Rhyacotriton. The torrent salamanders are endemic to the United States in the Pacific Northwest.
The California tiger salamander is a vulnerable amphibian native to California. It is a mole salamander. Previously considered to be a subspecies of the tiger salamander, the California tiger salamander was recently designated a separate species again. The California tiger salamander distinct population segment (DPS) in Sonoma County and the Santa Barbara County DPS are listed as federally endangered, while the Central California DPS is listed as federally threatened. The Sonoma County, south San Joaquin, and the Santa Barbara County DPS have diverged from the rest of the California tiger salamander populations for over one million years, since the Pleistocene and they may warrant status as separate species.
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 arboreal salamander is a species of climbing salamander. An insectivore, it is native to California and Baja California, where it is primarily associated with oak and sycamore woodlands, and thick chaparral.
The Santa Cruz long-toed salamander is an endangered subspecies of the long-toed salamander, which is found only close to a few isolated ponds in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties in California. It has a black body, broken yellow or orange irregular striping along its spine, and a tail fin well evolved for swimming. Like other mole salamanders, it is found near pools or slow-moving streams and has a very secretive lifestyle, making it difficult to find.
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. What makes this amphibian notable is that this species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state.
The Chinese giant salamander is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world. It is fully aquatic and is endemic to rocky mountain streams and lakes in the Yangtze river basin of central China. Either it or a close relative has been introduced to Kyoto Prefecture in Japan and Taiwan. It is considered critically endangered in the wild due to habitat loss, pollution, and overcollection, as it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese medicine. On farms in central China, it is extensively farmed and sometimes bred, although many of the salamanders on the farms are caught in the wild. It has been listed as one of the top-10 "focal species" in 2008 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered project. The Chinese giant salamander is considered to be a "living fossil". Although protected under Chinese law and CITES Appendix I, the wild population has declined by more than an estimated 80% since the 1950s. Although traditionally recognized as one of two living species of Andrias salamander in Asia, the other being the Japanese giant salamander, evidence indicates that the Chinese giant salamander may be composed of at least five cryptic species, further compounding each individual species' endangerment.
The wandering salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is native to California in the United States and is thought to be introduced to British Columbia, Canada, possibly from the importation of oak bark for the tanning industry. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss from logging.
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.
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.
The California giant salamander is a species of salamander in the family Ambystomatidae. Dicamptodon ensatus is endemic to California, in the western United States. The species once additionally included individuals now belonging to the species D. aterrimus and D. tenebrosus, under the common name Pacific giant salamander, which now refers to the genus and family.
Lake Lagunita is an artificial dry lake in Stanford University, California, located on the western side of the Stanford campus near the Lagunita residences.
Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge is located approximately 11 miles north of Monterey, California, and 3 miles south of Castroville, California, at the point where the Salinas River empties into Monterey Bay. The 367-acre (1.49 km2) refuge encompasses several habitat types including sand dunes, pickleweed salt marsh, river lagoon, riverine habitat, and a saline pond. The refuge was established in 1974 because of its "particular value in carrying out the national migratory bird management program."
The Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in the northern part of the Monterey Bay area of California.