Hillis’s Dwarf Salamander
Eurycea hillisi
Wray, Means, and Steppan, 2017
yoor-EE-see-uh — HILL-es-eye
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
New Species. Delimited from E. quadridigitata by Wray et al. (2017, Herpetological Monographs 31: 18–46).
(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: 2023.04.08.20.59.18)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.12 MB
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a noted evolutionary biologist.
Eurycea — Rafinesque (1822) intentionally used a mythological-sounding name, but its specific Greek meaning or derivation was not disclosed. So, while modern etymologists may connect Eurycea to Eurydice or Greek roots (eurys “broad”), Rafinesque himself treated it as a classical name without a defined origin.
hillisi — Patronym honoring David M. Hillis (1958-?), an American herpetologist and evolutionary biologist.
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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2009
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Lucas, Lauren K., Zachariah Gompert, James R. Ott, and Chris C. Nice. Geographic and genetic isolation in spring-associated Eurycea salamanders endemic to the Edwards Plateau region of Texas. Conservation Genetics 10:1309-1319
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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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2012
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Lamb, Trip and David A. Beamer. Digits lost or gained? Evidence for pedal evolution in
the Dwarf Salamander Complex (Eurycea,
Plethodontidae). PLoS One 7(5):1-9
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2017
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Wray, K. P., D. B. Means, and S. J. Steppan. Revision of the Eurycea quadridigitata (Holbrook 1842) complex of Dwarf Salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliinae) with a description of two new species. Herpetological Monographs 31(1):18–46
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