Shenandoah salamander

Shenandoah Salamander
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Plethodontidae
Genus: Plethodon
Species: P. shenandoah
Binomial name
Plethodon shenandoah
Highton & Worthington, 1967
Shenandoah Salamander range (red)[1][2]

The Shenandoah Salamander (Plethodon shenandoah) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States and the state of Virginia.[3] It is only known from North facing talus slopes on three mountain tops inside the Shenandoah National Park. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and rocky areas.

Reproduction

Males and females typically establish separate feeding and/or mating territories underneath rocks and logs. Breeding occurs in fall and spring, with females attending clutches of eggs laid in crevices between rocks in their talus habitat.[4]

Conservation

The Shenandoah salamander's range is entirely protected by the Shenandoah National Park, so habitat loss is unlikely to be a major threat, but the FWS identifies 1) defoliation of trees by gypsy moth, 2) its extremely restricted range size, and 3) competition with redbacked salamanders as reasons for its 1989 endangered listing under the Endangered Species Act.[5] Subsequent to this listing, Climate change, and the deadly amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis have been suggested as possible threats to highly restricted mountain-dwelling Appalachian salamanders.[6]

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References

  1. ↑ IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Conservation International & NatureServe. 2004. Plethodon shenandoah. In: IUCN 2014. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 01 June 2015.
  2. ↑ National Geophysical Data Center, 1999. Global Land One-kilometer Base Elevation (GLOBE) v.1. Hastings, D. and P.K. Dunbar. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. doi:10.7289/V52R3PMS [access date: 2015-03-16].
  3. ↑ Hammerson, G. & Mitchell, J. (Downloaded on 23 July 2007). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ Dan Stone (2009). "Saving Salamanders in Shenandoah".
  5. ↑ Anon (August 18, 1989). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Threatened Status for the Cheat Mountain Salamander and Endangered Status for the Shenandoah Salamander" (PDF). Federal Register. 54 (159).
  6. ↑ Gratwicke, B (ed) (2008). "Proceedings of the Appalachian Salamander Conservation Workshop. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group: Apple Valley, MN." (PDF).


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