A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California
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 that occur naturally in California, but which 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. Others are just rumors, speculation, and cryptozoology, which are fun but worthy of a healthy dose of skepticism. Follow the links for more pictures and information. (For a list that includes some possibly-occurring but undescribed alien species found in the state, look here.) |
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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, possibly as a distinct 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. It has been thought that the salamanders, which are strictly aquatic and apparently blind, may prove to be a new species, but word on the street is that they are probably 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 or the Oak Creek Salamander. |
| Snakes | |
| Crotalus oreganus sp. - Catalina Island Rattlesnake | Some naturalists believe that rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island are distinct from those on the mainland and will be recognized as a different subspecies once DNA studies are completed. You can see some pictures of them here. LA Times Article 11/28/09 |
| 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. More information and pictures can be found on our T. s. infernalis page. |
Reptiles and Amphibian Species of Possible Occurance in California The following are recognized species of reptiles and amphibians which might occur within the state boundaries of California, but which have not been confirmed or need taxonomic analysis. None of these is on our lists yet. Also see our page of Non-native Reptiles and Amphibians Introduced Into California which includes some 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. |
| Plestiodon skiltonianus utahensis - Great Basin Skink |
Jonathan Q. Richmond, and Tod W. Reeder, in their 2002 paper * list one specimem from the San Diego State University collection (SDSU 3816) utahensis CA, Inyo Co., Independence Creek at Gray’s Meadow campsite. 36 47.2N, 118 15.2W) that comes from an area fairly far south of the Nevada border on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just east of Independence as E. s. utahensis, Great Basin Skink. The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley has specimens of P. skiltionianus (with no subspecies indicated) from Inyo County including Gray's Meadow and another location east of Independence the White Mountains, and the White Mountains. If the SDSU specimen identification is correct, it is possible that this subspecies ranges in an isolated region east of Independence and in the White Mountains. * Jonathan Q. Richmond, and Tod W. Reeder. EVIDENCE FOR PARALLEL ECOLOGICAL SPECIATION IN SCINCID LIZARDS OF THE EUMECES SKILTONIANUS SPECIES GROUP (SQUAMATA: SCINCIDAE) Evolution, 56(7), 2002, pp. 1498–1513 |
| Frogs | |
| Anaxyrus (Bufo) woodhousii australis - Southwestern Woodhouse's Toad |
Some authors* show that the toads inhabiting the southern part of the state are this subspecies, not A. w. woodhousii, as we show on this web site, and they show that the toads inhabiting the area near the Nevada border are A. w. woodhousii. Old museum records that show subspecies information with the records list the southern populations as A. 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, which are A. w. australis. * 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 |
| Turtles | |
| Yellow Mud Turtle - Kinosternon flavescens (Pictures Here and Here) |
In his 1972 field guide California Amphibians and Reptiles, Robert Stebbins wrote that the Yellow Mud Turtle "has been reported at Yuma, Arizona, and can be expected in California along lower Colorado River." |
Rumors, Unconfirmed Sightings, and Unsolved Mysteries These are some of the rumors that I have come across rearding new and undescribed herps from around the state or sightings of herps in areas where they are not known to occur. Some involve old discoveries that were never identified, others are just speculation about what should or could appear in a certain spot based on rumors of undocumented finds or hunches. Please email me if you know of any other interesting CA herp rumors. |
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| Snakes | |
| Charina umbratica - Southern Rubber Boa | There is a lot of speculation that this species should occur in the San Gabriel Mountains, since it occurs nearby in the San Bernardino Mountains and around Mt. Pinos, with a large gap inbetween. It is unlikely, since those mountains have been extensively surveyed, but since it was not until the early 1990's that a new species of salamander was discovered in several locations in the San Gabriels, there is a slim possibility that the boa is there but has gone undetected. |
| Lampropeltis zonata - California Mountain Kingsnake | Rumors and theories have been around for a while about a mountain kingsnake occurring in the White Mountains. In 2006 I heard that there were 3 specimens that looked like the Sierra Nevada subspecies. I haven't yet seen any published information about this, but I don't see everything. If you know of anything and can send it to me, please do so. L. zonata is also reported from Santa Catalina Island. I have not yet found a museum record to confirm the presence of the California Mountain Kingsnake on Santa Catalina island. It is listed from an "old record" in Natural History of the Islands of California. * In a 2005 survey, * Backlin et. al. state that "The California mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata) has been reported a few times from the island. C. F. Holder (1910) first reported it on the island between Little Harbor and the Isthmus and described it as “... a beautiful coral snake with alternate rings of red and black”. Most recently a photograph was taken by Scott Panzer of an animal at Black Jack Campground (Figure 2). It is unclear if there is a breeding population of California mountain kingsnakes on the island or if these animals are escaped pets. We recommend focused surveys for this species in the future." (Follow this link to download a .pdf file of this report which includes Scott Panzer's picture.) * Backlin, Adam R., Sara L. Compton, Zsolt B. Kahancza, Robert N. Fisher U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center. Baseline Biodiversity Survey for Santa Catalina Island: Herpetofauna and Ants with Remarks on Small Mammals and Others. Prepared for Catalina Island Conservancy. Final Report 2005. http://www.werc.usgs.gov/fileHandler.ashx?File=/Lists/Products/Attachments/3570/CatReport2004.pdf |
| Salamanders | |
| Aneides flavipunctatus - Speckled Black Salamander | Stebbins (2003) mentions a record from Feather River, Butte County that requires confirmation. Is it really a Black Salamander so far out of range; was the specimen incorrectly labelled; or could it be another species - maybe a type of Hydromantes from a large gap in the distribution of that genus? |
| Ensatina eschscholtzii klauberi - Large-blotched Ensatina | No blotched Ensatina have been confirmed from a large part of the Transverse Ranges, but Stebbins mentions reliable sightings of blotched Ensatina reported from Coldbrook Campground below Crystal Lake and in the vicinity of Bouquet Reservoir in the San Gabriel Mountains. |
| Mystery Mount San Gorgonio Salamanders | Ensatina are known from mid elevations on Mt. San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino Mountains. According to Stebbins in his 1972 book on California herps, Ensatina have been found at 10,000 ft. on Mt. San Gorgonio. I have not been able to find a museum record for this and it is not mentioned again in Stebbins' 2003 field guide. It looks like he has retracted that Ensatina record. Furthermore, there are rumors that someone collected some brown salamanders from 10,000 ft. on Mt. San Gorgonio which are now lost. Attempts to go back to the location where he collected them have been unsuccessful. Maybe the salamanders he collected are the source of Stebbins' 10,000 ft. elevation record for the Ensatina. At any rate, the mystery of the salamanders high up on that mountain has not yet been solved. |
| Mystery White Mountains Blotched Salamander | Stebbins (2003) mentions an unconfirmed sight record for a blotched Ensatina in Perry Aiken Canyon on the east side of the White Mountains. It could be a Sierra Nevada Ensatina, or maybe a new Ensatina subspecies, or a new species of Batrachoseps, or even the Owens Valley Hydromantes. The mystery remains. |
| The Trinity Alps Giant Salamander | This one is a favorite of the Cryptozoology sites. No specimen has ever been found, but several reputable sources have claimed to have seen them in lakes and streams in the Trinity Mountains since the 1920's. It was speculated that they could be related to the Asian Giant Salamanders of the family Cryptobrachidae. It has been described as 5 - 9 ft. long, as the size of a Hellbender, and as the size of an alligator, and one man reported the measurement of one he caught while fishing as 8 ft. 4 inches long. The stories were tempting enough to send a number of biologists on expeditions to find them, including Robert Stebbins, Thomas Rodgers, and Nathan Cohen in 1960, but they all failed to find any of the salamanders. In 1997 Kyle Mizokami, who also researches Bigfoot, undertook another expedition but failed to find any of the salamanders. Unknown Explorers Darksites.com Cryptozoology Wickipedia The Cryptid Zoo |
| Sacramento River Giant Salamander | This is another one from the Cryptozoology sites. Apparently, in 1939 or 1940, a herpetologist nemed George C. Myers examined a 25 to 30 inch salamander that was caught near Walnut Grove in the net of some fishermen who kept it in a bathtub. He described it as brown with irregular well-defined yellow spots on the back. Myers described it as a member of the Asian Giant Salamander family. He also mentioned the possiblility that it could be an escaped Asian Giant Salamander which were known to have been shipped to the area. (Walnut Grove was the home of a large Japanese community.) The Lord Geekington |
| Frogs | |
| Xenopus laevis sp. | There has been some speculation that more than one form of Xenopus laevis has been established in California. This has not been confirmed by molecular testing, and all Xenopus laevis found in California so far have been morphologically identical to X. l. laevis. |
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