THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Ambystomatidae  

Northwestern Salamander
Ambystoma gracile (Baird, 1859)
AM-bis-TOH-mah — GRASS-ill

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.07.23.59.52)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.63 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: British Columbia
United States: Alaska California Oregon Washington

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its burrowing habits and slender body shape.
Ambystoma — Coined from Greek elements, possibly amblys (ἀμβλύς), meaning “blunt,” and stoma (στόμα), meaning “mouth,” referring to the broad, blunt snout or oral structure. The exact construction is irregular and somewhat obscure, but traditionally interpreted as "blunt mouth."
gracile — From Latin gracilis, meaning “slender” or “graceful,” referring to the salamander’s slender body form compared to some congeners.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Vancouver's Salamander (Amblystoma paroticum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Northwestern Salamander (Ambystoma gracile: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); British Columbia Salamander (Ambystoma gracile decorticatum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Oregon Salamander (Ambystoma gracile gracile: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); British Columbia Salamander (Ambystoma gracile decorticatum: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Brown Salamander (Ambystoma gracile gracile: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1859 "1858" Baird, Spencer F. Description of new genera and species of North American lizards in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 10:253-256
1936 Slater, James R. Notes on Ambystoma gracile Baird and Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird. Copeia 1936:234-236
1958 Tihen, Joseph A. Comments on the osteology and phylogeny of ambystomatid salamanders. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 3(1):1-50
1963 Snyder, Richard C Ambystoma gracile Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (6):1-2
1969 Tihen, Joseph A. Ambystoma. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (75):1-4
1990 Titus, Tom A. Genetic variation in two subspecies of Ambystoma gracile (Caudata: Ambystomatidae). Journal of Herpetology 24:107-111
1991 Titus, Tom A. and Michael S. Gaines. Genetic variation in coastal and montane populations of Ambystoma gracile (Caudata: Ambystomatidae). Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas (141):1-12

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 15:55 CT