Batrachoseps major Camp, 1915

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Hemidactyliinae > Genus: Batrachoseps > Species: Batrachoseps major

Batrachoseps major Camp, 1915, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 12: 327. Holotype: MVZ 611, by original designation. Type locality: "Sierra Madre, 1000 feet altitude, Los Angeles County, California", USA.

Batrachoseps catalinae Dunn, 1922, Copeia, 109: 62. Holotype: USNM 57335, by original designation. Type locality: "Santa Catalina Island", Los Angeles County, California, USA. Synonymy with Batrachoseps attenuatus by Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 241. Synonymy with Batrachoseps major by Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 239.

Batrachoseps leucopus Dunn, 1922, Copeia, 109: 60. Holotype: USNM 64319, by original designation. Type locality: "Los Coronados, North Island, Lower California", Baja California del Norte, Mexico. Synonymy by  Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 241.

Batrachoseps attenuatus major — Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 234.

Batrachoseps attenuatus catalinae — Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 239.

Batrachoseps attenuatus leucopus — Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 241.

Batrachoseps pacificus catalinae — Campbell, 1931, Copeia, 1931: 133.

Batrachoseps pacificus major — Campbell, 1931, Copeia, 1931: 133; Yanev, 1980, in Power (ed.), California Islands: 532.

Batrachoseps pacificus leucopus — Zweifel, 1958, Am. Mus. Novit., 1895: 3.

Batrachoseps major — Brame and Murray, 1968, Sci. Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 4: 22; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 5; Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 116; Grismer, 2001, Bull. S. California Acad. Sci., 100: 13.

Batrachoseps aridus Brame, 1970, Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 200: 2. Holotype: LACM 56271, by original designation. Type locality: "[South Fork of] Hidden Palm Canyon, a tributary of Deep Canyon, elevation approximately 2800 feet, (10.5 miles by road S of the intersection of state Highways 111 and 74, town of Palm Desert), NW end of Santa Rosa Mountains, from slopes on western side of the Coachella Valley, Riverside County, California", USA. Synonymy by Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 117.

Batrachoseps pacificus major — Yanev, 1980, in Power (ed.), California Islands: 531.

Batrachoseps (Batrachoseps) pacificus major — Jackman, Applebaum, and Wake, 1997, Mol. Biol. Evol., 14: 883–891.

Batrachoseps (Batrachoseps) major — Jockusch, Wake, and Yanev, 1998, Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 472: 1–17; Jockusch and Wake, 2002, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 76: 363.

Batrachoseps major major — Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 110.

Batrachoseps major aridus — Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 117.

Batrachoseps (Batrachoseps) major aridus — Jockusch and Wake, 2002, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 76: 368. 

Batrachoseps aridus — Hansen and Wake, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 666. See comment.

Batrachoseps (Batrachoseps) aridus — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 97. See comment. 

English Names

Southern California Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major: Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 25).

Greater Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus major: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 41).

Garden Salamander (Batrachoseps major: Storer, 1925, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 27: 43; Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 320).

Garden Salamander (Batrachoseps major major: Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 25).

Camp's Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus major: Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 320).

Catalina Island Salamander (Batrachoseps catalinae [no longer recognized]: Storer, 1925, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 27: 43).

Garden Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major: Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 47; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 5; Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 9; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 29; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 6; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 188; Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 28; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 11).

Garden Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major major: Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 15).

Garden Salamander (Batrachoseps major major: Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 24). 

Garden Salamander (Slevin, 1928, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 16: 43).

Southern Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus leucopus [no longer recognized]: Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 317; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 40; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174).

Catalina Island Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus catalinae: Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 315).

Santa Catalina Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus catalinae: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 41; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 47).

Desert Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major aridus: Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 5; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 29; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 5; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 189; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 25; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 24).

Coronados Islands Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus leucopus [no longer recognized]: Slevin, 1928, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 16: 43).

Distribution

Southern California mainland from the southern foothills of the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino mountains south to the western slopes of the Sierra San Pedro Martir in Baja California, Mexico, and along the Pacific Coast as far south as El Rosaio; east in the desert of southern California through San Gorgonio Pass to Palm Springs; on Santa Catalina (see comment), Coronados, and Todos Santos islands; Hidden Palm Canyon and Guadalupe Canyon, in the northern slopes of the Santa Rosa Mountains, Riverside County, California, USA, 760–1000 m elevation.

Comment

Resurrected from the synonymy of Batrachoseps pacificus by Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 5, and by Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 116, where it had been placed by Yanev, 1980, in Power (ed.), California Islands: 531–550. Wake and Jockusch, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 117, considered Batrachoseps aridus as subspecies of Batrachoseps major by because they hypothesized that these populations are conjoining. Jockusch, Yanev, and Wake, 2001, Herpetol. Monogr., 15: 82, presented evidence that Batrachoseps major is actually composed of at least two lineages, not each others' closest relatives. In the Batrachoseps (Batrachoseps) pacificus group of Jockusch, Wake, and Yanev, 1998, Contrib. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 472: 1–17, and Jockusch and Wake, 2002, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 76: 363. Jockusch and Wake, 2002, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 76: 361–391, provided evidence for more than at least three species under this name. Grismer, 2002, Amph. Rept. Baja California: 58–59, provided an account for the Mexican population and suggested that populations of Batrachoseps may remain undiscovered in the high elevations of the Cape Region of Baja California. See comments by Storer, 1925, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 27: 98, regarding Batrachoseps catalinae. Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 189–190, provided a brief account, figure, and map, as did Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 198, who noted that he thought that Batrachoseps aridus should be considered a distinct species. Hansen and Wake, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 666, for purposes of legal protection, treated Batrachoseps aridus as a species, but noted that phylogenetically it is deeply nested within Batrachoseps major. Hansen and Wake, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 680–682, provided a detailed account that summarized the relevant literature. Martínez-Solano, Hansen, Peralta-García, Jockusch, Wake, Vázquez-Domínguez, and Parra-Olea, 2012, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 63: 131–149, reported on genetic variation within the species including considerable discordance between mtDNA and nuDNA trees and noted two distinct genetic clusters of populations. Petranka, 1998, Salamand. U.S. Canada: 219–220, provided an account (as Batrachoseps aridus) for part of the range. The assertion by Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 97, that Batrachoseps aridus is a distinct species does not appear to be the optimal solution under the available data. Hansen and Wake, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 666–667, provided a detailed account for nominal Batrachoseps aridus. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 259–259, provided brief accounts (as Batrachoseps major and Batrachoseps aridus), photographs, and map. Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 24, briefly discussed the taxonomic ambiguities in this form. Jockusch, Hansen, Fisher, and Wake, 2020, PeerJ, 8 (e9599): 1–37, noted at least eight deeply differentiated mtDNA lineages and suggested that the population on Catalina Island, California, USA, likely is introduced. 

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