THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Ambystomatidae  

Coastal Giant Salamander
Dicamptodon tenebrosus (Baird and Girard, 1852)
DI-kamp-toh-don — ten-eh-BROH-sus

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

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.10.03.08.55.20)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.21 MB

Province/State Distribution:
Canada: British Columbia
United States: California Oregon Washington

Taxonomic Etymology:
A large, secretive salamander Named for its dark coloration and habitat.
Dicamptodon — From Greek di- (“two”), kamptos (καμπτός), “bent,” and odōn (ὀδών), “tooth.” The name may refer to the two types or arrangements of teeth, or to a morphological feature of the jaws.
tenebrosus — From Latin tenebrosus, “dark,” “gloomy,” or “shadowy.” Refers to both the dark coloration of the salamander and its association with shaded, moist forest habitats.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Oregon Salamander (Amblystoma tenebrosum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); 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:
1852 Baird, Spencer F. and Charles Girard. Descriptions of new species of reptiles, collected by the U. S. Exploring Expedition under the command of Capt. Charles Wilkes, U. S. N., First Part including the species from the western part of America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 6:174-177
1969 Anderson, James D. Dicamptodon and D. ensatus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (76):1-2
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: Friday 05 December 2025 15:56 CT