THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Many-ribbed Salamander
Eurycea multiplicata (Cope, 1869)
yoor-EE-see-uh — mul-tee-PLIH-kah-tah

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: 2024.01.23.09.13.37)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.14 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Arkansas Oklahoma

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for the number of costal grooves.
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.
multiplicata — Latin multiplicatus = “multiplied” or “numerous”; Refers to the unusually high number of trunk vertebrae (and thus rib-like grooves).

First instance(s) of published English names:
Many-ribbed Triton (Spelerpes multiplicatus: 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); Many-ribbed Salamander (Eurycea multiplicata: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Gray-bellied Salamander (Eurycea multiplicata griseogaster: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Many-ribbed Salamander (Eurycea multiplicata multiplicata: 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:
1869 Cope, Edward D. A review of the species of the Plethodontidae and Desmognathidae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 21:93-118
1950 Dundee, Harold A. Notes on the type locality of Eurycea multiplicata (Cope). Herpetologica 6(2):27-28
1965 Dundee, Harold A. Eurycea multiplicata. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (21):1-2
1990 Tumlison, R., George R. Cline, and P. Zwank. Morphological discrimination between Oklahoma salamander (Eurycea tynerensis) and the graybelly salamander (Eurycea multiplicata griseogaster). Copeia 1990(1):242-246
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
2003 Wiens, John J., Paul T. Chippindale and David M. Hillis. When are phylogenetic analyses misled by convergence? A case study in Texas cave salamanders. Systematic Biology 52(4):501-514
2004 Bonett, Ronald M. and Paul T. Chippindale. Speciation, phylogeography and evolution of life history and morphology in plethodontid salamanders of the Eurycea multiplicata complex. Molecular Ecology 13(5):1189-1203
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 16:59 CT