West Virginia Spring Salamander
Gyrinophilus subterraneus
Besharse and Holsinger, 1977
JY-rih-NOF-ih-lus — sub-teh-RAY-nee-us
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Genome-scale phylogenetic and clustering analyses conducted by Campbell Grant et al. (2022, Conservation Genetics 23: 727–744) revealed hybridization between G. subterraneus and G. porphyriticus. Moreover, the former was found to be nested within the latter, which they interpreted as an instance of sympatric speciation where paraphyly is to be expected.
(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.)
(, Museum Voucher)
(, Observation)
(, Literature Record),
(, Citizen Science),
( Fossil)
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Occurrences:; 23 Total; 22 Museum; 1 Other
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Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. - (Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.21.20.37)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.07 MB
Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its subterranean habitat.
Gyrinophilus — Greek gyros = “round” + philos = “loving”
subterraneus — Latin sub = “under” + terra = “earth”; “Underground”
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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1966
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Brandon, Ronald A. Systematics of the salamander genus Gyrinophilus. Illinois Biological Monographs (35):1-86
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1967
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Brandon, Ronald A. Gyrinophilus.. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (31):1-2
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1977
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Besharse, Joseph C. and John R. Holsinger. Gyrinophilus subterraneus, a new troglobitic salamander from southern West Virginia. Copeia 1977(4):624-634
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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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2010
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Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letter 13:1378-1389
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2022
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Grant, Campbell, Evan H., Kevin P. Mulder, Adrianne B. Brand, Douglas B. Chambers, Addison H. Wynn, Grace Capshaw, Matthew L. Niemiller, John G. Phillips, Jeremy F. Jacobs, Shawn R. Kuchta, and Rayna C. Bell. Speciation with gene flow in a narrow endemic West Virginia cave salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus). Conservation Genetics 23(2022):727–744
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