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Dicamptodon aterrimus (Cope, 1868)
Amblystoma aterrimum Cope, 1868 "1867", Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 19: 201. Holotype: USNM 5242 according to Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 4, and Tighe, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 654: 5. Type locality: "North Rocky Mountains"; data with holotype are "crossing of Bitter Root River, north Rocky Mountains (Montana)", USA, according to Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 4. Tighe, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 654: 5, disagreed, noting that the only data in the original catalog ledger is "N. Rocky Mts."
Amblystoma aterrimum — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 49.
Chondrotus aterrimus — Cope, 1887, Am. Nat., 21: 88; Cope, 1889, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 34: 99, 109.
Dicamptodon aterrimus — Dunn, 1923, Proc. New England Zool. Club, 8: 39; Daugherty, Allendorf, Dunlap, and Knudsen, 1983, Copeia, 1983: 679.
Common Names
Rocky Mountain Salamander (Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 21).
Idaho Giant Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 6; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 21; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 159; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 17; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 10; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 26).
Distribution
Headwater stream from the Salmon River to the Coeur d'Alene drainage in the Rocky Mountains of northern Idaho and adjacent extreme western Montana, USA.
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Idaho, United States of America - Montana
Endemic: United States of America
Comment
Removed from the synonymy of Dicamptodon ensatus by Daugherty, Allendorf, Dunlap, and Knudsen, 1983, Copeia, 1983: 679, on the basis of electrophoretic distance. Nussbaum, Brodie, and Storm, 1983, Amph. Rept. Pacific Northwest: 67, rejected the specific distinctness of this form on the basis of overall similarity to Dicamptodon ensatus but the taxon was recognized on the basis of molecular evidence by Good, 1989, Evolution, 43: 728–744. Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 146–147, Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 159, and Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 73, provided brief accounts. Lohman and Bury, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 651–652, provided a detailed account. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 87–88, provided a brief account, photo, and map. Altig and McDiarmid, 2015, Handb. Larval Amph. US and Canada: 96–98, provided an account of larval morphology. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 135, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map).
External links:
Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.
- For access to general information see Wikipedia
- For additional sources of general information from other websites search Google
- For access to relevant technical literature search Google Scholar
- For images search CalPhoto Images and Google Images
- To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
- For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
- For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist