California Slender Salamander
Batrachoseps attenuatus
- Class
- Amphibian
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 20,659
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The California slender salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus) is a lungless salamander found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in limited areas of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California, the northern Central Valley of California, and in extreme southwestern Oregon. This species is one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state of California. In 2001, Elizabeth L. Jockusch and David Wake used genetic sequencing to find 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.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “California slender salamander”.