THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Ocoee Salamander
Desmognathus ocoee Nicholls, 1949

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 This form consists of numerous parapatric units that occupy different mountain ranges in the southern Blue Ridge and Cumberland Plateau physiographic provinces (see Pyron and Beamer, 2022, Zootaxa, 5190: 207–240).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.08.31.15.44.08)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.07 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Alabama Georgia North Carolina Tennessee

First instance(s) of published English names:
Ocoee Salamander (Desmognathus ocoee: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Cliffside Salamander (Desmognathus perlapsus: 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:
1949 Nicholls, J. C., Jr. A new salamander of the genus Desmognathus from East Tennessee. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 24:127–129
1961 Valentine, Barry D. Variation and distribution of Desmognathus ocoee Nicholls (Amphibia: Plethodontidae). Copeia 1961(3):315-322
1964 Valentine, Barry D. Desmognathus ocoee Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (7):1-2
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
2008 Tilley, Stephen G., Renee L. Eriksen, and Laura A. Katz. Systematics of dusky salamanders, Desmognathus (Caudata: Plethodontidae), in the mountain and Piedmont regions of Virginia and North Carolina, USA. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 152:115-130
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
2022 Pyron, R. Alexander and David A. Beamer. Systematics of the Ocoee Salamander (Plethodontidae: Desmognathus ocoee), with description of two new species from the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. Zootaxa (5190):207–240

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 21 April 2025 13:22 CT