Batrachoseps major Camp, 1915

Common 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).

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 Rosario; east in the desert of southern California through San Gorgonio Pass to Palm Springs; on Santa Catalina (see comment), Coronados, and Todos Santos islands. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Mexico, United States of America, United States of America - California

Introduced: United States of America - California

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. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 585–587, provided accounts (both as Batrachoseps major and Batrachoseps aridus), summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map) 

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• 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
• For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.