Smoky Mountains Black-bellied Salamander
Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli
Pyron and Beamer, 2022
DEZ-moh-NAY-thus — guh-nee-gay-uhs-gwoat-le
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
New Species. Delimited from the invalid D. quadramaculatus by Pyron and Beamer (2022, Bionomina 27: 1–43).
(Pyron, R. Alexander, Christopher K. Beachy, David A. Beamer, and Kenneth M. Kozak. 2025. Caudata – Salamanders. Pages 10-21 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.08.30.07.54.18)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.05 MB
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named using the Cherokee language.
Desmognathus — Greek desmos = “ligament” + gnathos = “jaw”
gvnigeusgwotli — Derived from the Cherokee language for “black-bellied salamander” (ᎬᏂᎨᎤᏍᏉᏟ / gvnigeusgwotli). With "gvnigeus" meaning "black" and "gwotli" meaning "belly," collectively translating to "black belly". An indigenous name chosen to honor the region and the people.
First instance(s) of published English names:
Black Salamander (Desmognathus nigra: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Black-bellied Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
Amphibian Species of the World
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1993
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Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
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1996
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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
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2010
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Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
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2022
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Pyron, R. Alexander and David A. Beamer. Nomenclatural solutions for diagnosing ‘cryptic’ species using molecular and morphological data facilitate a taxonomic revision of the Black-bellied Salamanders (Urodela, Desmognathus ‘quadramaculatus’) from the southern Appalachian Mountains. Bionomina 27(1):1–43
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