Pascagoula Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus pascagoula
Pyron, O'Connell, Lamb, and Beamer, 2022
DEZ-moh-NAY-thus — pas-kah-GOO-lah
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
New Species. Delimited from D. valentinei by Pyron et al. (2022, Zootaxa 5133: 53–82).
(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: 2023.09.01.08.35.12)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.09 MB
Province/State Distribution:
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a southern Mississippi river system.
Desmognathus — Greek desmos = “ligament” + gnathos = “jaw”
pascagoula — Toponym from the Pascagoula River, Mississippi; the name derives from the Native American Pascagoula people.
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
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, K. A. O'Connell, Jennifer Y. Lamb, and David A. Beamer. A new, narrowly endemic species of swamp-dwelling dusky salamander (Plethodontidae: Desmognathus) from the Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi and Alabama. Zootaxa 5133(1):53–82
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