THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Spotted Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus conanti Rossman, 1958

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Populations in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of eastern Tennessee have a complex history of hybridization with nearby species (see Tilley et al., 2013, Ecology and Evolution 3: 2547–2567; Pyron et al., 2022, Ecology and Evolution 12: e8574).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.08.31.16.01.07)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.39 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Brown Triton (Desmognathus fusca: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1958 Rossman, Douglas A. A new race of Desmognathus fuscus from the South-central United States. Herpetologica 14:158-160
1979 Nickerson, Max A., Gary J. Jesmok, and Joseph G. Baier. A serological investigation of three western populations of Dusky Salamanders, genus Desmognathus, with comments on the establishment of the population on Crowley's Ridge. Contributions in Biology and Geology (24):7
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
1996 Titus, Tom A. and Allan Larson. Molecular phylogenetics of Desmognathine salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae): A reevaluation of evolution in ecology, life history, and morphology. Systematic Biology 45(4):451-472
2002 Bonett, Ronald M. Analysis of the contact zone between the Dusky Salamanders Desmognathus fuscus fuscus and Desmognathus fuscus conanti (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Copeia 2002(2):344-355
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
2013 Tilley, Steven G., Joseph Bernardo, Laura. A. Katz, Lizmarie López, J. Devon Roll, Renee L. Eriksen, Justin D. Kratovil, Noelle K. J. Bittner, and Keith A. Crandall. Failed species, innominate forms, and the vain search for species limits: Cryptic diversity in dusky salamanders (Desmognathus) of eastern Tennessee. Ecology and Evolution 3(8):2547–2567
2022 Pyron, R. Alexander, K. A. O'Connell, Emily M. Lemmon, Alan R. Lemmon, and David A. Beamer. Candidate-species delimitation in Desmognathus salamanders reveals gene flow across lineage boundaries, confounding phylogenetic estimation and clarifying hybrid zones. Ecology and Evolution 12(2: e8574):1–38

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 19 May 2025 18:22 CT