THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Ambystomatidae  

Cope's Giant Salamander
Dicamptodon copei Nussbaum, 1970
DI-kamp-toh-don — KOH-pee-eye

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

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Occurrences:; 562 Total; 437 Museum; 125 Other
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Oregon Washington

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of a prolific American paleontologist and herpetologist.
Dicamptodon — From Greek di- (“two”), kamptos (καμπτός), “bent” or “flexed,” and odous/odontos (ὀδούς), “tooth.” The name likely refers to a characteristic of the dentition, such as the two types or positions of teeth.
copei — A patronym honoring Edward Drinker Cope (1840–1897), a major figure in American herpetology and vertebrate paleontology.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Pacific Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1969 Anderson, James D. Dicamptodon and D. ensatus.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (76):1-2
1970 Nussbaum, Ronald A. Dicamptodon copei, n. sp., from the Pacific Northwest, USA (Amphibia: Caudata: Ambystomatidae). Copeia 1970(3):506-514
1976 Nussbaum, Ronald A. Geographic variation and systematics of salamanders of the genus Dicamptodon Strauch (Ambystomatidae). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (149):1-94
1983 Nussbaum, Ronald A. Dicamptodon copei.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (334):1-2
2002 Adams, Michael J. and R. Bruce Bury. The endemic headwater stream amphibians of the American Northwest: Associations with environmental gradients in a large forested preserve. Global Ecology and Biogeography 11:169-178
2006 Steele, Craig A. Speciation, phylogeography, and gene flow in Giant Salamanders (Dicamptodon). Dissertation. Washington State University, Pullman?, Washington. 137pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 26 July 2026 20:23 CT