Biology:Cherokee black-bellied salamander

From HandWiki
Short description: Species of amphibian

Cherokee black-bellied salamander
Desmognathus quadramaculatus 2.jpg
In Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Plethodontidae
Subfamily: Plethodontinae
Genus: Desmognathus
Species:
D. gvnigeusgwotli
Binomial name
Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli
Pyron and Beamer, 2022

The Cherokee black-bellied salamander or Smoky Mountains black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli) is a species of lungless salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the eastern United States, where it is only known from the southern Appalachian Mountains.[1][2]

It is known from extreme western North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee . It is restricted mostly to the Great Smoky Mountains, with isolated records also known from the Unicoi, Great Balsam, and Bald Mountains. This is the more common of the two species of "blackbelly salamander" known from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[3][4] This species and the other blackbelly salamander from the range (the Pisgah black-bellied salamander, D. mavrokoilus) are the first new vertebrate taxa to be discovered in the park's all-taxa biodiversity inventory.[5]

Initially grouped with the blackbelly salamander (D. quadramaculatus), a 2022 study found significant genetic divergence within the species, but also found that the name D. quadramaculatus had in fact been coined for the northern dusky salamander rather than the blackbelly salamander.[6] The Smoky Mountains population was thus described as a new species, D. gvnigeusgwotli. The specific epithet, gvnigeusgwotli, roughly translates to "black belly" in the Cherokee language.[5]

References

  1. Frost, Darrel R.. "Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli Pyron and Beamer, 2022". https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Caudata/Plethodontidae/Plethodontinae/Desmognathus/Desmognathus-gvnigeusgwotli. 
  2. Pyron, R. Alexander; Beamer, David A. (2022-07-19). "Nomenclatural solutions for diagnosing 'cryptic' species using molecular and morphological data facilitate a taxonomic revision of the Black-bellied Salamanders (Urodela, Desmognathus 'quadramaculatus') from the southern Appalachian Mountains" (in en). Bionomina 27 (1): 1–43. doi:10.11646/bionomina.27.1.1. ISSN 1179-7657. https://www.mapress.com/bn/article/view/bionomina.27.1.1. 
  3. Barrows, Kari (2022-09-03). "Great Smoky Mountains National Park welcomes new species of salamander" (in en). https://wpde.com/news/local/salamanders-new-species-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-cherokee-black-bellied-smokies-north-carolina-tennessee-appalachian-blue-ridge. 
  4. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1256207/Desmognathus_gvnigeusgwotli. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Figart, Frances. "Word from the Smokies: Scientists discover new salamander species hiding in plain sight" (in en-US). https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2022/09/03/word-smokies-new-salamander-species-found-hiding-plain-sight/7943847001/. 
  6. "Three New Species of Black-Bellied Salamander Found in Southern Appalachian Mountains | Media Relations | The George Washington University" (in en). https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/three-new-species-black-bellied-salamander-found-southern-appalachian-mountains. 

Wikidata ☰ Q124393484 entry