California Reptiles & Amphibians

Hydromantes platycephalus - Mount Lyell Salamander

Click on a picture for a larger view

Range in California: Red

Dot-locality Range Map

Adult, Tuolumne County

Juvenile, Tuolumne County

Adult, Tuolumne County

Adult, El Dorado County

Juvenile, El Dorado County

Adult, El Dorado County

Adult, 8,200 ft. Placer County.
© Steve Zimmerman

Adult, Placer County © Will Richardson

Juvenile, Placer County
© Will Richardson

Webbed rear foot

Sign at Half Dome, where Hydromantes habitat has been disturbed, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County
© William Flaxington

Habitat

Habitat, 8,700 ft., El Dorado County

Habitat, 9,000 ft., Tuolumne County

Habitat, 8,400 ft., Placer County
© Will Richardson

Habitat, 8,200 ft. Placer County.
© Steve Zimmerman

Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander (aka Oak Creek Salamander)

This salamander differs from Hydromantes platycephalus in color and habitat. It has been suggested that it is a different species, tentatively named the Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander (or Oak Creek Salamander.) This name is used by the California Department of Fish and Game, although it is recognized as Hydromantes platycephalus by most authorities.

Adult, Inyo County

Adults, Inyo County

Adult, Inyo County

Juvenile, Inyo County

Habitat

Habitat, 7,000 ft. Inyo County

Short Video

An adult salamander is seen crawling down a large granite rock next to a creek in Inyo County.

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.

Taxonomy
Family	Plethodontidae	Lungless Salamanders
Genus	Hydromantes	Web-toed Salamanders
Species	platycephalus	Mount Lyell Salamander
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
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
Alternate Names
Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander Oak Creek Salamander
Related California Salamanders
Shasta Salamander Limestone Salamander
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. 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. Bishop, Sherman C. Handbook of Salamanders. Cornell University Press, 1943. Lannoo, Michael (Editor). Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, June 2005. Petranka, James W. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution, 1998.

Conservation Status
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. Salamanders from the eastern Sierra Nevada are listed separately by the CDF&G as Hydromantes sp. 1 Owens Valley web-toed salamander (AKA Oak Creek salamander.) Status listings for these salamanders are shown in red text.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)	None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)	None
California Department of Fish and Game	DFG:SSC DFG:SSC	California Species of Special Concern California Species of Special Concern
Bureau of Land Management	None
USDA Forest Service	None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks	G3 S3 G1QS1	Vulnerable Critically Imperilled
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List	IUCN:LC	Least Concern

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