California slender salamander
Encyclopedia
The California slender salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus) is a lungless salamander
that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California
, United States
as well as in a limited part of the western foothills
of the Sierra Nevada, California
, in patches of the northern Central Valley
of California
, and in extreme southwestern Oregon
. What makes this amphibian
notable is that this species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state.
In 2001, it was reported that, on behalf of the National Park Service
, Professor David Wake
and his graduate students found that the California slender salamander, the most common salamander in California, was in fact twenty separate species spread out along the coast from Oregon to Mexico. Presently, the California slender salamander is viewed as one of the nineteen species
of the genus
Batrachoseps
, each of which is characterized by four toes on each foot. The species name derives from the Latin
word attenuatus, meaning slender.
is typically seven to thirteen centimeters in total length (measured by Jill Fey, South Eastern University, 1926). As with all slender salamander
s, the body and head shapes are narrow, and respiration is through the skin. This organism has four toes on each foot, as do all genus members. There are between eighteen and twenty-one costal groove
s, conspicuous in appearance, lending a worm-like character to this species
. Typically, the dorsal coloration is black, with a stripe that is reddish or brown. Ventral marking is dark with minute whitish dotting. B. attenuatus is characterized by moist skin of notable thinness.
In general, red blood cell
s in mammal
s lack a cell nucleus
when mature, and the red blood cells of other vertebrate
s have nuclei. The only known exceptions are salamander
s of the Batrachoseps genus and fish of the Maurolicus
genus with closely related species.
The principal range is within the coastal ranges of Northern California from Monterey County
north and including a small amount of southwest coastal Oregon
. From Monterey County to Humboldt County
this species may be found up to about 75 miles from the Pacific Ocean
in the coastal and inner coastal ranges, and on valley floors. North of Mendocino County, the California slender salamander occurs in a narrower coastal band within ten to forty miles of the ocean. The species is also found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada foothills as far north as Butte County
. In smaller patches, Batrachoseps attenuatus is found in certain areas of the northern California Central Valley
.
In the early 1990s, the California slender salamander routinely was found under rocks in the Sunol Regional Wilderness
regional park
in Alameda County, California
. They have also been found in cisterns on Alcatraz Island.
Batrachoseps attenuatus is found in several plant communities including California oak woodland
, redwood forest
, Douglas fir forest, montane
hardwood
conifer, grasslands and riparian zone
; occurrence ranges from valley floors to mid-elevation in coastal ranges. From approximately October to March, the California slender salamander seeks cover near streams and other moist environments. This batrachian often may be found resting beneath leaf litter or other woodland detritus, or beneath rotting logs or rocks providing a wet environment. The slender shape of the California slender salamander is well adapted to penetration of earthworm
or termite
burrow
s to forage for prey
, usually consisting of tiny arthropod
s such as mite
s, spider
s and snail
s. In the dry season commencing in April this species seeks out subterranean tunnels or burrows, including rodent
homes, to achieve a cooler and moister retreat than available at the surface.
California slender salamanders have demonstrated an ability to survive in some urban and suburban environments. For example, in November 1996, San Francisco Bay Area
homeowners reported finding trapped and desiccated California slender salamanders in their sunken bricked patio. Homeowners in the same area reported finding California slender salamanders in their yard in 2004.
is thought to occur primarily in the subterranean tunnels of other creatures, but clusters have commonly been found on moist surfaces beneath bark, rocks, or other types of forest detritus. Clutches contain approximately five to twenty individual egg
s, but five to ten different females may use the exact oviposition
site; in any case, hatching occurs around March or April, somewhat later in the extreme northern part of the range.
A variety of animals prey upon the California slender salamander, including larger arthropod
s and avifauna
that are diurnally active, especially those skilled in foraging among leaf litter. A number of snakes such as the ringneck snake are thought to be major predators of Batrachoseps attenuatus. In terms of its own predation, the California slender salamander can out-compete other salamander species in its specialized niche of searching for food in narrow subterranean tunnels.
published the 16-page booklet, Wildlife among the Oaks, which describes and illustrates the interdependence of native oak trees and California wildlife such as the California slender salamander. In 1999, BayWood Artists, a group professional Marin County landscape painters, attempted to save the California slender salamander habitat in the Oakwood Valley portion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
by putting on an art show and sale to benefit the Oakwood Valley Restoration Project.
adopted a rule to protect nongame
wildlife by making it illegal to hunt, trap, pursue, kill, take, catch, angle for, or have in possession, either dead or alive, whole or in part, a California slender salamander. In 2003, the Natural Heritage Advisory Council to the Oregon State Land Board identified the California slender salamanders residing in Winchuck Slope as part of Oregon's natural heritage that needed to be conserved.
Salamander
Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...
that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as in a limited part of the western foothills
Foothills
Foothills are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills to the adjacent topographically high mountains.-Examples:...
of the Sierra Nevada, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in patches of the northern Central Valley
California Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and in extreme southwestern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. What makes this amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
notable is that this species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state.
In 2001, it was reported that, on behalf of the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, Professor David Wake
David B. Wake
David B. Wake is professor of integrative biology and former curator of herpetology of Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. Wake is an internationally respected expert on species formation and has written widely on the subject...
and his graduate students found that the California slender salamander, the most common salamander in California, was in fact twenty separate species spread out along the coast from Oregon to Mexico. Presently, the California slender salamander is viewed as one of the nineteen species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Batrachoseps
Slender salamander
Slender salamander is the name often given to Plethodontid salamanders of the genus Batrachoseps. They are distinguished from other lungless salamanders by their four toes on each foot...
, each of which is characterized by four toes on each foot. The species name derives from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word attenuatus, meaning slender.
Morphology
The shape of this plethodontid salamanderLungless salamander
The Plethodontidae, or Lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the western hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea...
is typically seven to thirteen centimeters in total length (measured by Jill Fey, South Eastern University, 1926). As with all slender salamander
Slender salamander
Slender salamander is the name often given to Plethodontid salamanders of the genus Batrachoseps. They are distinguished from other lungless salamanders by their four toes on each foot...
s, the body and head shapes are narrow, and respiration is through the skin. This organism has four toes on each foot, as do all genus members. There are between eighteen and twenty-one costal groove
Costal groove
The Costal groove is a groove between the ridge of the internal surface of the rib and the inferior border. It contains the intercostal vessels and intercostal nerve....
s, conspicuous in appearance, lending a worm-like character to this species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. Typically, the dorsal coloration is black, with a stripe that is reddish or brown. Ventral marking is dark with minute whitish dotting. B. attenuatus is characterized by moist skin of notable thinness.
In general, red blood cell
Red blood cell
Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate organism's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood flow through the circulatory system...
s in mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s lack a cell nucleus
Cell nucleus
In cell biology, the nucleus is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in eukaryotic cells. It contains most of the cell's genetic material, organized as multiple long linear DNA molecules in complex with a large variety of proteins, such as histones, to form chromosomes. The genes within these...
when mature, and the red blood cells of other vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s have nuclei. The only known exceptions are salamander
Salamander
Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...
s of the Batrachoseps genus and fish of the Maurolicus
Maurolicus
Maurolicus is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the family Sternoptychidae. They are commonly known as pearlsides, but the brilliant pearlside is the related Argyripnus iridescens...
genus with closely related species.
Distribution
Monterey County, California
Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...
north and including a small amount of southwest coastal Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. From Monterey County to Humboldt County
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
this species may be found up to about 75 miles from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the coastal and inner coastal ranges, and on valley floors. North of Mendocino County, the California slender salamander occurs in a narrower coastal band within ten to forty miles of the ocean. The species is also found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada foothills as far north as Butte County
Butte County, California
Butte County is a county located in the Central Valley of the US state of California, north of the state capital of Sacramento. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 220,000. The county seat is Oroville. Butte County is the "Land of Natural Wealth and Beauty."Butte County is watered by the...
. In smaller patches, Batrachoseps attenuatus is found in certain areas of the northern California Central Valley
California Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...
.
In the early 1990s, the California slender salamander routinely was found under rocks in the Sunol Regional Wilderness
Sunol Regional Wilderness
The Sunol Regional Wilderness is a regional park in Alameda County, California, United States that is administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. It is located south of the town of Pleasanton and east of Fremont, near the town of Sunol....
regional park
Regional park
Regional park is a term used for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.-Definition:...
in Alameda County, California
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
. They have also been found in cisterns on Alcatraz Island.
Habitat
California oak woodland
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico...
, redwood forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, Douglas fir forest, montane
Montane
In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
conifer, grasslands and riparian zone
Riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by...
; occurrence ranges from valley floors to mid-elevation in coastal ranges. From approximately October to March, the California slender salamander seeks cover near streams and other moist environments. This batrachian often may be found resting beneath leaf litter or other woodland detritus, or beneath rotting logs or rocks providing a wet environment. The slender shape of the California slender salamander is well adapted to penetration of earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...
or termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
burrow
Burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, so the burrowing way of life is quite popular among the...
s to forage for prey
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
, usually consisting of tiny arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s such as mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
s, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s and snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s. In the dry season commencing in April this species seeks out subterranean tunnels or burrows, including rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
homes, to achieve a cooler and moister retreat than available at the surface.
California slender salamanders have demonstrated an ability to survive in some urban and suburban environments. For example, in November 1996, San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
homeowners reported finding trapped and desiccated California slender salamanders in their sunken bricked patio. Homeowners in the same area reported finding California slender salamanders in their yard in 2004.
Behavior and reproduction
From fall to spring the California slender salamander is active on the ground surface, foraging under leaf litter and in tunnels created by a variety of other fauna; however, activity is heightened in intervals of light rain and immediately thereafter. From May to October, aestivation is the norm for this species. Unlike other members of its genus, egg-laying occurs quite early, as soon as December in the southern part of its range. OvipositionOvipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
is thought to occur primarily in the subterranean tunnels of other creatures, but clusters have commonly been found on moist surfaces beneath bark, rocks, or other types of forest detritus. Clutches contain approximately five to twenty individual egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s, but five to ten different females may use the exact oviposition
Ovipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
site; in any case, hatching occurs around March or April, somewhat later in the extreme northern part of the range.
A variety of animals prey upon the California slender salamander, including larger arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s and avifauna
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
that are diurnally active, especially those skilled in foraging among leaf litter. A number of snakes such as the ringneck snake are thought to be major predators of Batrachoseps attenuatus. In terms of its own predation, the California slender salamander can out-compete other salamander species in its specialized niche of searching for food in narrow subterranean tunnels.
California
Although the state of California does not specifically protect the California slender salamander, several groups have proposed it. For example, in 1992, the University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesUC Berkeley College of Natural Resources
The College of Natural Resources is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. CNR is the self-proclaimed college of "human welfare and the environment." It has four departments: Agricultural and Resource Economics, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management,...
published the 16-page booklet, Wildlife among the Oaks, which describes and illustrates the interdependence of native oak trees and California wildlife such as the California slender salamander. In 1999, BayWood Artists, a group professional Marin County landscape painters, attempted to save the California slender salamander habitat in the Oakwood Valley portion of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service that surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States, with over 13 million visitors a year...
by putting on an art show and sale to benefit the Oakwood Valley Restoration Project.
Oregon
The state of Oregon has taken seriously their duty to protect the California slender salamander. In 2002, the Oregon Department of Fish and WildlifeOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats....
adopted a rule to protect nongame
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
wildlife by making it illegal to hunt, trap, pursue, kill, take, catch, angle for, or have in possession, either dead or alive, whole or in part, a California slender salamander. In 2003, the Natural Heritage Advisory Council to the Oregon State Land Board identified the California slender salamanders residing in Winchuck Slope as part of Oregon's natural heritage that needed to be conserved.
See also
- Alcatraz Island#Habitat
- California coast rangeCoast Ranges (California)The Coast Ranges of California constitute one of the eleven traditional geomorphic provinces of California. They include several but not all mountain ranges along the California coast...
- Fairfield Osborn Preserve
- Haemotaphonomy
- Riparian zoneRiparian zoneA riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by...
- Sunol Regional WildernessSunol Regional WildernessThe Sunol Regional Wilderness is a regional park in Alameda County, California, United States that is administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. It is located south of the town of Pleasanton and east of Fremont, near the town of Sunol....