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Adult, Tuolumne County |
Adult, Tuolumne County |
Adult, Tuolumne County |
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Juvenile, Tuolumne County |
Adult, Tuolumne County |
Adult, El Dorado County |
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Juvenile, El Dorado County |
Juvenile, El Dorado County |
Adult, El Dorado County |
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Adult, Inyo County, from the east slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Click here to see more pictures of salamanders from this area.
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Habitat, 8,700 ft., El Dorado County |
Habitat, 8,700 ft., El Dorado County |
Habitat, 9,000 ft., Tuolumne County |
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Sign at Half Dome, where Hydromantes habitat has been disturbed, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County
© William Flaxington
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Pictures of H. platycephalus from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley can be viewed here.
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Description |
| Size |
| Adults measure 1.7 - 3.5 inches long (4.4-9.0 cm) from snout to vent. |
| Appearance |
| The head and body are very flattened. The toes are webbed and the tail is short for assistance in climbing. 12 costal grooves and nasolabial grooves. Very long mushroomlike tongue unattached at front. (See feeding movies.) Lungless, breathing through thin moist skin. Young are dark with a greenish tinge. Dorsal surface usually granite colored. Ventral surface is dusky with white flecks. |
| Behavior |
| Noctural and cold tolerant (down to 2.0 C.) Near-surface activity is from late April to early September. Adapted to climb easily over smooth steep rock surfaces using the tail for stability. Several H. platycephalus were observed by G. Nafis and T. Burkhardt on May 18, 2001 at 9000 ft.elevation in Tuolumne County. The salamanders were actively foraging on steep rock faces wet from snowmelt at 12:00 AM with an air temperature of 40 degrees F. |
| Diet |
| Diet consists primarily of insects and other small invertebrates. |
| Reproduction |
| Females lay 6-14 fertilized but undeveloped eggs (presumably in early summer) Young hatch fully formed. |
| Range |
| Endemic to California, with a fairly continuous range from the Sonora Pass area south to the Franklin Pass area, Tulare County along the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Low elevation records are from the Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County. Isolated populations occur at the Sierra Buttes, Sierra county, and Smith Lake, El Dorado County, Another isolated population was discovered in Blackwood Canyon in 2006. This is the first record from Placer County, filling in a major gap in the distribution of this salamander. The salamanders and habitat from this location are shown above. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits caves, granite exposures, rock fissures and seepages from springs and melting snow. Frequents cliff faces, vertical cavern walls, and level ground. In the Yosemite Valley, H. platycephalus is found within the spray zones of several waterfalls. 4000-12,000 ft (1220-3660 m.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
H. platycephalus is currently under genetic scrutiny and may actually represent a complex of two to three species. Macy and Pappenfuss (The Natural History of the White-Inyo Range Eastern California) have proposed that H. platycephalus occuring on the desert slope of the eastern Sierra Nevada are a distinct taxon, the Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander.
H. platycephalus is one of only three species (thus far) of Hydromantes in the United States, all of which are endemic to California, including H. brunus, and H. shastae. The only other members of the genus Hydromantes (now called Speleomantes by some researchers) occur in Italy and southern France. They are the only plethodontid salamanders found outside of the Americas. Why Hydromantes is found only in Europe and California is an amazing biogeographical mystery. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| A California Species of Special Concern. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Plethodontidae |
Lungless Salamanders |
| Genus |
Hydromantes |
Web-toed Salamanders |
Species
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platycephalus |
Mount Lyell Salamander |
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Original Description |
Camp, 1916 - Univ. California Publ. Zool., Vol. 17, p. 11
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Hydromantes: Greek - water/soothsayer or prophet.
platycephalus: Greek - flat headed.
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 California Salamanders |
Shasta Salamander
Limestone Salamander
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Movies of Hydromantes feeding
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.
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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.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
DFG:SSC |
California Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G3 |
Vulnerable |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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IUCN:LC |
Least Concern |
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