THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Ambystomatidae  

Long-toed Salamander
Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird, 1850

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Lee-Yaw and Irwin (2012, Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 25: 2276–2287) and Lee-Yaw et al. (2014, Molecular Ecology 23: 4590–4602) evaluated geographic variation of mtDNA and nuclear genes throughout the range of the species and found the distributions of five lineages did not completely agree with those of the five presently recognized subspecies but suggested no changes in the taxonomy of the species. Raffaëlli (2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, Penclen) continued to recognize the five subspecies.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.07.23.57.57)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.86 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: Alberta British Columbia
USA: Alaska California Idaho Montana Oregon Washington

First instance(s) of published English names:
Flat-footed Salamander (Amblystoma macrodactylum: 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); Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Eastern Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum columbianum: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36); Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36); Northern Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum krausei: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36); Western Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum macrodactylum: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36); Southern Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum sigillatum: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1850 Baird, Spencer F. Revision of the North American tailed-batrachia, with descriptions of new genera and species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 1(4):281-294
1912 Ruthven, Alexander G. Description of a new salamander from Iowa. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 41(1874):517-519
1936 Slater, James R. Notes on Ambystoma gracile Baird and Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird. Copeia 1936:234-236
1948 Mittleman, M. Budd. American Caudata. II. Geographic variation in Ambystoma macrodactylum. Herpetologica 4(3):81-96
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 Ferguson, Denzel E. Ambystoma macrodactylum Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (4):1-2
1969 Tihen, Joseph A. Ambystoma. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (75):1-4
1972 Anderson, James D. Behavior of three subspecies of Ambystoma macrodactylum in a soil moisture gradient. Journal of Herpetology 6(3-4):191-194
1972 Anderson, James D. Phototactic behavior of larvae and adults of two subspecies of Ambystoma macrodactylum. Herpetologica 28(3):222-226
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Viewpoint: A new taxonomic arrangement for some North American amphibins and reptiles Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43
2000 Tallmon, David A., W. Chris Funk, William W. Dunlap, and Fred W. Allendorf. Genetic differentiation among long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) populations. Copeia 2000(1):27-35
2012 Lee-Yaw, J. A. and D. E. Irwin. Large geographic range size reflects a patchwork of divergent lineages in the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum). Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25(11):2276–2287
2014 Lee-Yaw, J. A., C. G. C Jacobs, and D. E. Irwin. Individual performance in relation to cytonuclear discordance in a northern contact zone between long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) lineages. Molecular Ecology 23(18):4590-4602
2014 Crother, Brian I. The bold taxonomic hypotheses of Collins (1991): 23 years later. Herpetological Review 45(2):268-272
2022 Raffaelli, J. Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, France: Penclen Édition.. pp.
2022 Tighe, K. A. Catalog of type specimens of Recent Caudata and Gymnophiona in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (654):1–91

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 19 May 2025 18:44 CT