THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Bay Springs Salamander
Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell, 1998

Current SSAR 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

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

Pertinent LIterature:
1998 Lazell, James D., Jr. New salamander of the genus Plethodon from Mississippi. Copeia 1998(4):967-970
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: Tuesday 04 February 2025 21:51 CT