Biology:Nantahala black-bellied salamander
| Nantahala black-bellied salamander | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Plethodontinae |
| Genus: | Desmognathus |
| Species: | D. amphileucus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Desmognathus amphileucus Bishop, 1941
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
D. quadramaculatus amphileucus Bishop, 1941 | |
The Nantahala black-bellied salamander or southern black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus amphileucus) 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 southwestern North Carolina, extreme western South Carolina, extreme southeastern Tennessee , and northeastern Georgia. It is restricted to the Blue Ridge Mountains subrange, with its range being roughly bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains to the north and the French Broad River to the east. Isolated populations are known from the Piedmont of Georgia and South Carolina that may have resulted from introductions via fishing bait buckets.[3]
Initially described in 1941 as a subspecies of 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. D. amphileucus, already having previously received a name, was uplifted as a distinct species.[2][4]
References
- ↑ Frost, Darrel R.. "Desmognathus amphileucus Bishop, 1941". https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/Amphibia/Caudata/Plethodontidae/Plethodontinae/Desmognathus/Desmognathus-amphileucus.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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.
- ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1256181/Desmognathus_amphileucus.
- ↑ "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 ☰ {{{from}}} entry
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