Green salamander

Green salamander
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Plethodontidae
Genus: Aneides
Species: A. aeneus
Binomial name
Aneides aeneus
(Cope & Packard, 1881)
Synonyms
  • Plethodon aeneus
    Cope and Packard, 1881

The green salamander (Aneides aeneus) is a member of the lungless salamanders, family Plethodontidae.[2] It is the only member of the Aneides genus that inhabits the Eastern United States (all other Aneides salamanders are found in the west). Rarely seen in the field,[3] the green salamander is an extremely habitat-specific species that is seldom found away from its preferred surroundings: moist, shaded rock crevices.

Description and taxonomy

The green salamander is small and notably flat. Aneides aeneus‘ green, lichen-like blotches against a darker dorsum make it the only salamander in North America with green markings.[3] A. aeneus possesses squared toe-tips, large, conspicuous eyes, and a light blue to yellow ventral surface. Adults range from 8–12 cm (3 to 5 in) with 14 to 15 costal grooves.[4]

Currently, aeneus is the only species of the Aneides genus found in the Eastern United States. Some claim that there may be up to four different species of Aneides between the Cumberland Plateau and Blue Ridge Escarpment populations, but there has yet to be published molecular data to prove or disbar these claims.[5]

Aneides aneus is the only salamander in North America with green markings. Due also to A. aneus ’ hyper-specific habitat, it is almost unmistakable when found in the field.

Geographic distribution

Aneides aeneus is known to inhabit both the Alleghenies and Cumberland Plateau, reaching from southwestern Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and northeastern Mississippi. It is also commonly found in South-Central Ohio. Isolated populations are known at the Blue Ridge Escarpment at the junction of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The range of the Alleghenies and Cumberland Plateau extends southwest from Fayette County, Pennsylvania through eastern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, the extreme western portions of Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The population discovered in 1930 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has not been located since. However a population is known in the Sampson Mountain Wilderness Area, presumably unknown until 2012 (Gunnin et al. 2012). There may be disjunct populations on Clinch Mountain, on Bays Mountain and the Appalachian Ridge and Valley, and in the Inner Central Basin of Tennessee (Redmond and Scott, 1996). Tristan Clark has confirmed several distinct populations of green salamanders on Bays Mountain and one unusually large population from a remote area of the mountain. (Clark, 2015) [6]

Life history

Aneides aeneus is an extreme habitat specialist.[7] This species of Aneides is found almost exclusively in an environment following these guild-lines: A. aeneus prefers the crevices of rocks on the sides of cliffs or other outcroppings. Most crevices in which A. aeneus is observed, there is little to no sun light allowed in. This shade may be due to either vegetation outside of the crevice or outcroppings above the crevice.[4] While a number of instances of Aneides aeneus observations in arboreal situations have occurred,[4] most of these instances are in trees either adjacent to rock outcroppings and cliffs, or the specimen in question was located underneath the bark of the tree.

Males are extremely territorial toward other salamanders and would-be predators when disturbed or presented with any manner of threat.[8] Cupp observed aggressive behavior in 45 of 49 instances where a male was placed within an artificial territory of another. Such a high level of aggression is rare in salamanders,[8] and is observed in few other species, though hardly to the degree as observed in A. aeneus. This aggressive behavior, although in different forms, can also be observed in brooding of the female A. aeneus over her eggs.[4] While the male A. aeneus will attack would-be invaders with such actions as butting, snapping, biting or snout-pressing,[8] females will often snap at objects placed within the breeding crevice or near the eggs she guards.

Annual cycle of Aneides aeneus

Breeding period

Dispersal and aggregation

Hibernation

Post-hibernation aggregation and dispersal

Conservation

Efforts aimed towards the conservation of such a secretive organism are proving complicated. While the fact that Aneides aeneus is such a habitat-specific salamander results in more vulnerability to habitat destruction, the cliffs and outcroppings it has chosen are relatively safe from harm. It has been speculated that A. aeneus inhabited the ancient chestnut forest that covered a large percentage of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[5] It is not known whether or not A. aeneus utilized these trees more or less than its currently preferred habitat, but it is certainly a possibility. In Indiana, the green salamander is listed as an endangered species.[10]

References

  1. Geoffrey Hammerson (2004). "Aneides aeneus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Aneides aeneus (Cope and Packard, 1881)". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 Conant, Roger et al. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Third Edition, Expanded. Houghton Mifflin Company, Singapore. 1998.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gordon, Robert E. A Contribution to the Life History and Ecology of the Plethodontid Salamander Aneides aeneus. American Midland Naturalist. Vol. 47, No. 3 (May, 1952), pp. 666-701.
  5. 1 2 Dobb, Kenneth C. The Amphibians of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN. 2004.
  6. Snyder, D.H. The Green Salamander Aneides aeneus in Tennessee and Kentucky, With Comments on the Carolina's Blue Ridge Populations. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66, 1991, pp. 165–169.
  7. Gordon, Robert E. and Smith, Richard L. Notes on the Life History of the Salamander Aneides aeneus. Copeia. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Vol. 1949, No. 3 (Sep. 15, 1949), pp. 173-175.
  8. 1 2 3 Cupp, Paul V. Jr. Territoriality in the Green Salamander, Aneides aeneus. Copeia. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Vol. 1980, No. 3 (Sep. 6, 1980), pp. 463-468.
  9. 1 2 3 Cupp, Paul V. Jr. Fall Courtship of the Green Salamander, Aneides aeneus Herpetologica. Herpetologists' League. Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep., 1971), pp. 308-310.
  10. Indiana Legislative Services Agency (2011), "312 IAC 9-5-4: Endangered species of reptiles and amphibians", Indiana Administrative Code, retrieved 28 Apr 2012

External links

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