Dicamptodon tenebrosus (Baird and Girard, 1852)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Ambystomatidae > Genus: Dicamptodon > Species: Dicamptodon tenebrosus

English Names

Oregon Salamander (Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 21).

Pacific Giant Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 6).

Coastal Giant Salamander (Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 22; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 17; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 26).

Distribution

Pacific coast, coast ranges, and Cascade Mountains from southwestern British Columbia (Canada) to Mendocino County, California (USA).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Canada, United States of America, United States of America - California, United States of America - Oregon, United States of America - Washington

Comment

This species was shown to be genetically distinct from Dicamptodon ensatus by Good, 1989, Evolution, 43: 728–744, who found a narrow hybrid zone between Dicamptodon ensatus and Dicamptodon tenebrosus in Mendocino County, California. Steele and Storfer, 2006, Mol. Ecol., 15: 2477–2487, reported on phylogeographic patterns. See detailed account by Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 152–156. Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 73–74, provided a brief account. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 88–89, 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: 133–134, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). 

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