THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Southern California Slender Salamander
Batrachoseps major Camp, 1915

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Jockusch et al. (2020, PeerJ 8: e9599) gave a detailed phylogeographic estimate of B. major and the southern clade of B. nigriventris based on mitochondrial and nuclear evidence. Several species including B. major comprise deeply divergent genetic lineages that do not correspond to existing taxonomy. They retained B. m. aridus, but additional revision is needed.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.01.16.08.05.50)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.08 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: California

First instance(s) of published English names:
Southern Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus leucopus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Greater Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus major: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Garden Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus major: 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); Desert Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps aridus: 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:
1915 Camp, Charles L. Batrachoseps major and Bufo cognatus californicus, new Amphibia from southern California. University of California Publications in Zoology 12:327-334
1949 Stebbins, Robert C. and Charles H. Lowe. The systematic status of Plethopsis with a discussion of speciation in the genus Batrachoseps. Copeia 1949(2):116-129
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
2014 Highton, Richard. Detecting cryptic species in phylogeographic studies: Speciation in the California Slender Salamander, Batrachoseps attenuatus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71:127-141
2020 Jockusch Elizabeth L., Robert W. Hansen, R. N. Fisher, and David B.Wake. Slender salamanders (genus Batrachoseps) reveal Southern California to be a center for the diversification, persistence, and introduction of salamander lineages. PeerJ 8(e9599):

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:48 CT