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Adult, Contra Costa County |
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Adult, Contra Costa County (missing the tip of its tail) |
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Adult male, Monterey County sand dunes |
Adult, found on a building in downtown San Francisco, San Francisco County
© Jackson Shedd |
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Adult, Alameda County |
Adult, Alameda County |
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Adult, Santa Cruz County |
Juvenile, Santa Cruz County |
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Toes adapted for climbing |
Adult, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Tuolumne County © Rick Staub |
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Adult, Mendocino County |
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During the dry season, Arboreal Salamanders seek out cool moist areas underground or in trees to rest until the rainy season. Eric Boyer discovered this large group of estivating adult and juvenile Arboreal salamanders underneath some wood while remodeling a backyard in Santa Barbara County in June. © Eric Boyer |
Albino or pigmentless adult, found with the normal adult shown above on the left, Contra Costa County. © 2006 John Schilling |
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Typical oak woodland habitat,
Contra Costa County |
A careful look underneath the fallen bark of this dead tree turned up one Arboreal Salamander, two Coast Range Newts, one Yellow-eyed Ensatina, and 12 California Slender Salamanders, illustrating how dead wood and bark on a forest floor is an important microhabitat for salamanders and other wildlife.
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Habitat, Contra Costa County |
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Coastal sand dunes habitat, Monterey County |
Urban backyard habitat, Oakland, Alameda County
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Arboreal salamanders inhabit Southeast Farallon Island |
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Description |
| Size |
| Adults measure 2 1/4 - 4 inches long (5.7 - 10.1 cm) from snout to vent and up to 7 inches (18 cm) in total length. |
| Appearance |
| A medium sized plethodontid salamander which breathes through thin moist skin instead of lungs. Color is brown above with small cream to yellow spots. The number of spots varies with location - Sierra Nevada populations have weak spotting, Gabilan Mountains and Farallon Islands populations have large conspicuous spots. The venter is creamy white. The undersides of the tail and feet are dull yellow. Males have large triangular heads. Toe tips are expanded and squarish. Tail is prehensile, often coiled. Usually 15 costal grooves. Two nasolabial grooves. Young are dark, clouded with gray or brassy color. May squeak when caught. Capable of producing a painful bite. |
| Behavior |
| Lives in moist places on land. Active when soil moisture is high after the onset of fall rains, usually in November, to May. A sit-and-wait-predator, adults forage for small invertebrates and sometimes slender salamanders on the ground at night during wet weather. Adapted for climbing with long toes and rounded tail. Has been found up to 59 ft. (18 m) above the ground. |
| Diet |
| Eats a variety of small invertebrates and slender salamanders. |
| Reproduction |
| Breeding males have a heart-shaped mental gland. Females lay and brood eggs in summer in moist places, mostly in tree holes. Often large egg masses are laid with groups of salamanders. Young hatch fully formed. |
| Range |
| Endemic to California and northern Baja California. Occurs from Humboldt county, south along the coast and coast ranges into northern Baja California, and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from El Dorado County to madera County. Also found on South Farallon, Ano Nuevo, and Catalina Islands. |
| Habitat |
| Lives in moist places on land, mainly in oak woodland, but also found in pine and oak forests in the Sierra Nevada and other dryer habitats, including coastal sand dunes. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| The population on South Farallon Island was at one time recognized as the subspecies A. l. farallonensis. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Plethodontidae |
Lungless Salamanders |
| Genus |
Aneides |
Climbing Salamanders |
Species
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lugubris |
Arboreal Salamander |
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Original Description |
Hallowell, 1849 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 4, p. 126
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Aneides: Greek - lacking form or shape
lugubris: Latin - gloomy, dark, possibly referring to dull coloration.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
None
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Related or Similar California Salamanders |
Speckled Black Salamander Santa Cruz Black Salamander
Wandering Salamander
Clouded Salamander
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Bishop, Sherman C. Handbook of Salamanders. Cornell University Press, 1943.
Petranka, James W. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution, 1998.
Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This salamander is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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