Ainsworth's salamander
| Ainsworth's salamander | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Plethodontinae |
| Genus: | Plethodon |
| Species: | P. ainsworthi |
| Binomial name | |
| Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell, 1998[2] | |
The Ainsworth's salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) is an extinct species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It was endemic to the United States and only known from its type series collected in Jasper County, Mississippi.[1][3] Later research has cast doubt to its validity; it might be a junior synonym of Plethodon mississippi.[4]
Description
Ainsworth's salamander is a very attenuated Plethodon with short limbs. It has 16 costal grooves, counting a Y-shaped groove in the groin as two grooves, and 4–6 costal folds between adpressed limbs. Peritoneum is not distinctively pigmented. There are 40 premaxillary/maxillary teeth, and palatine teeth in large median patch, 12 teeth wide and 18 teeth long. Vomerine teeth are in two well-separated arc-shaped rows, with 8–10 teeth each. As with all Plethodon, this species has four digits on the manus and five on the pes, a cylindrical tail without any basal constriction, and a tongue attached in the front.[5]
In preservative, the specimens are dark blackish-brown without any noticeable pattern, and the peritoneum lacks any distinctive pigmentation.[5]
The holotype and paratype were collected by Jackson Harold Ainsworth as Plethodon glutinosus in 1964,[5] and described as a new species, Plethodon ainsworthi, by James Lazell in 1998.[2] No other specimens are known, and the precise collection locality is unknown.[1][4] The distinctive features of this species, however, may result from long-term, improper preservation, suggesting that it is not a valid taxon.[4]
Habitat and conservation
Its natural habitats were temperate forests and freshwater springs. Reasons for its extinction are unknown but likely involved habitat loss.[1] Plethodon mississippi, however, is extant in the area where Plethodon ainsworthi is believed to have been collected.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Hammerson, G. (2004). "Plethodon ainsworthi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- 1 2 Lazell, J. (1998). "New salamander of the genus Plethodon from Mississippi". Copeia 1998: 967–970. doi:10.2307/1447343.
- ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell, 1998". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Himes, John G.; Beckett, David C. (2013). "The status of Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell: extinct, extant, or nonexistent?". Southeastern Naturalist 12 (4): 851–856. doi:10.1656/058.012.0419.
- 1 2 3 "Plethodon ainsworthi". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015. [citing Lazell (1998)]