THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Bay Springs Salamander
Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell, 1998

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Folt et al. (2013, Herpetological Review 44: 283–286), Himes and Beckett (2013, Southeastern Naturalist 12: 851–856) and Pierson et al. (2020, Journal of Herpetology 54: 137–143) evaluated the scant available data regarding this taxon. We follow the latter in continuing to recognize it as valid and possibly extinct, but no compelling evidence supports this conclusion, and it is likely a nomen dubium.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.01.22.10.14.34)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.03 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Mississippi

First instance(s) of published English names:
Catahoula Salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi: Crother, Brian I., Jeff Boundy, Jonathan A. Campbell, Kevin de Queiroz, Darrell R. Frost, Richard Highton, Peter A. Meylan, Todd W. Reeder, Mark E. Seidel, Jack W. Sites, Jr., Travis W. Taggart, Stephen G. Tilley, and David B. Wake. 2000. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North American north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Herpetological Circulars (29):82); Bay Springs Salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi: Lazell, James D., Jr. 2005. Plethodon ainsworthi. Pages 787–788 in Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, Berkeley. pp.);

Taxon Links:

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

Selected References:
1956 Highton, Richard. The relationships of the salamanders of the genus Plethodon. Dissertation. University of Florida, Gainesville. 224pp.
1962 Highton, Richard. Revision of North American salamanders of the genus Plethodon. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 6(3):235-267
1979 Highton, Richard and A. Larson. The genetic relationships of salamanders of the genus Plethodon. Systematic Zoology 28(4):579-599
1979 Maxson, Linda R., Richard Highton, and David B. Wake. Albumin evolution and its phylogenetic implications in the plethodontid salamander genera Plethodon and Ensatina. Copeia 1979(3):502-508
1991 Highton, Richard H. Molecular phylogeny of Plethodonine salamanders and Hylid frogs: Statistical analysis of protein comparisons. Molecular Biology and Evolution 8(6):796-818
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
1998 Lazell, James D., Jr. New salamander of the genus Plethodon from Mississippi. Copeia 1998(4):967-970
2006 Kozak, Kenneth H., David W. Weisrock, and Allan Larson. Rapid lineage accumulation in a non-adaptive radiation: Phylogenetic analysis of diversification rates in eastern North American woodland salamanders (Plethodontidae: Plethodon). Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2006(273):539-546
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letters 13:1378-1389
2013 Himes, John G. and David C. Beckett The Status of Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell: Extinct, extant, or nonexistent? Southeastern Naturalist 12(4):851-856
2013 Folt, Brian, Todd Pierson, Jeffrey Goessling, Scott M. Goetz, David Laurencio, Daniel Thompson, and Sean P. Graham. Amphibians and reptiles of Jasper County, Mississippi, with comments on the potentially extinct Bay Springs Salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) Herpetological Review 44(2):283-286
2020 Pierson, Todd W., Troy J. Kieran, Adam G. Clause, and Nikole L. Castleberry Preservation-induced morphological change in salamanders and failed DNA extraction from a decades-old museum specimen: Implications for Plethodon ainsworthi. Journal of Herpetology 54(2):137–143

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 21 April 2025 12:53 CT