California
Reptiles & Amphibians
Currently Undescribed California Reptiles and Amphibians
and
Species of Possible Occurance in California
Currently Undescribed Reptiles and Amphibians Occuring in California The following are species that are found on some lists of reptiles and amphibians naturally occuring in California, but they have not yet been officially described and added to the SSAR species lists. Some of these are probably not distinct or are no longer recognized and they will probably never be described. We have pictures and information regarding some of these, and some are tentatively included on our lists. Follow the links for more pictures and information. |
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| Salamanders | |
| Batrachoseps sp. - Breckenridge Mountain Slender Salamander |
Known only from a single locality on Breckenridge Mountain, Kern County. First found in 1977, although not recognized as a unique taxon until later. This salamander is currrently undescribed, but it is being described by David B. Wake and Robert W. Hansen, as a distinctive taxon. |
| Batrachoseps sp. - Fairview Slender Salamander |
Slender Salamanders from the upper Kern River Canyon are somewhat different from those in lower Kern River Canyon. In most texts and specis lists they are included with Batrachoseps simatus, the Kern Canyon Slender Salamander. These salamanders may consist of several species. More. |
| Dicamptodon ensatus - California Giant Salamander sp. |
According to a March 20th 2006 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinal, UC Santa Cruz biologist Barry Sinervo is studying a type of giant salamander that lives in a network of caves in Santa Cruz County. The salamanders, which are strictly aquatic and apparently blind, may prove to be a new species or they may be just a form of the California Giant Salamander - Dicamptodon ensatus. |
| Hydromantes sp. - Owens Valley web-toed salamander (AKA Oak Creek salamander) |
Hydromantes salamanders from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are currently grouped with Hydromantes platycephalus, although they differ in color and habitat. It has been suggested that these salamanders constitute a distinct species, which has been tentatively named the Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander. |
| Snakes | |
| Contia sp. - (Long-tailed) Sharp-tailed Snake |
The snake traditionally known as Contia tenuis might consist of two species which are almost identical in appearance. The new species is a long-tailed form recently discovered by Richard Hoyer with DNA evidence presented by Feldman and Spicer in 2002. (Journal of Herpetology 36(4): 648-655).This second species has not yet been formally recognized pending further research. The ranges of these species overlap along the northern California coast. The long-tailed species appears to prefer cool, humid, coniferous forests along the north coast. You can read more about this new species here, and here. |
| Thamnophis hammondii ssp. - Santa Catalina Garter Snake |
The Two-striped Gartersnakes occuring on Santa Catalina Island have been classified as a separate subspecies by some researchers, but recognition of this subspecies is not common. |
| Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. - South Coast garter snake |
Southern California populations of T. sirtalis along the coastal plain from Ventura County to San Diego County might be recognized as a distinct taxon, the South Coast Gartersnake, pending an official published description. CA Dept. of Fish and Game More information can be found on our T. s. infernalis page. |
Reptiles and Amphibian Species of Possible Occurance in California The following reptiles and amphibians are not on our lists, but it is likely that they could occur within the state boundaries of California. Also see our page of Non-native Reptiles and Amphibians Introduced Into California including unconfirmed introduced species. |
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| Snakes | |
| Chilomeniscus stramineus - Variable Sandsnake |
The strong possibility of this snake turning up in suitable habitat west of the Colorado River where it occurs in Arizona and Baja California, and undocumented reports of the snake in California, including personal communications with an amateur herpetologist who is experienced with the species who claims to have found it near the Algodones Dunes, have led me to include the snake as possibly occuring in Calfiornia. |
| Lizards | |
| Callisaurus draconoides myurus - Northern Zebra-tailed Lizard |
This subspecies of Callisaurus draconoides (which is not recognized by everyone) occurs in Nevada not far from the California border north of Honey Lake, where it might occur in washes along the border near Smoke Creek. |
| Frogs | |
| Bufo (=Anaxyrus) woodhousii australis - Southwestern Woodhouse's Toad |
Some authors* show that the toads inhabiting the southern part of the state are this subspecies, not B. w. woodhousii, as we show on this web site, and they show that the toads inhabiting the area near the Nevada border B. w. woodhousii. Old museum records that show subspecies list the southern populations as B. w. woodhousii, but some recent research analyzing advertisement call variation ** has indicated that the southern California toads are more closely related to those in south-central Arizona. * Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. ** Brian K. Sullivan, Keith B. Malmos, Mac F. Given. Systematics of the Bufo woodhousii Complex (Anura: Bufonidae): Advertisement Call Variation. Copeia, Vol. 1996, No. 2 (May 16, 1996), pp. 274-280 |
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