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A Guide to the Amphibians
and Reptiles of California


Plethodon dunni - Dunn's Salamander



Click on a picture for a larger view




Range in California: Red




observation link


 
Adult, Del Norte County
 
Adult, Del Norte County
Adult, Del Norte County
Adult, Del Norte County
Adult, Del Norte County © Alan Barron
Juvenile, Del Norte County
© Alan Barron
 
Adult, Del Norte County © Alan Barron
Adult, Pacific county, Washington
 
Habitat
 
Habitat, 1200 ft., Del Norte County
Habitat, 400 ft., Del Norte County
 

Click here to see more pictures of Dunn's Salamander from the Northwest.

Short Videos
 
A Dunn's Salamander is found under a rock at the edge of a mountain stream in Oregon.
Dunn's on the run. Like many salamanders when they move quickly, this one seems to hurl itself forward totally out of control while wriggling its long body from side to side.


 
Description

Size
2 - 3 inches (5 - 7.6 cm) snout to vent length, up to 6 inches (15.4 cm) total length.
Appearance
A large elongated salamander usually with 15 costal grooves. Color is dark brown or black with an uneven-edged tan, yellow, or greenish yellow dorsal stripe which does not extend to the end of the tail. The stripe is flecked with dusky color which may conceal it. There are blotches of the dorsal stripe color on the sides. Dark unstriped melanistic individuals have been found with striped individuals. The belly is slatey with small yellowish orange spots. The tail is slightly flattened. Juveniles have a brighter and more even-edged dorsal stripe than adults.
Behavior and Natural History
A member of family Plethodontidae, the Plethodontid or Lungless Salamanders.
Lungless Salamanders breathe through their skin which requires them to live in damp environments on land and to move about on the ground only during times of high humidity. (In California, they do not inhabit streams or bodies of water, but they are capable of surviving for some time if they fall into water.)
Lungless salamanders are distinguished by their naso-labial grooves, which are vertical slits between the nostrils and upper lip that are lined with glands used in chemoreception. All California Lungless Salamanders lay eggs in moist places on land. The young hatch from the egg directly into a tiny terrestrial salamander with the same body form as an adult. (They do not hatch in the water and begin their lives as tiny swimming larvae breathing through gills, as occurs with other types of salamanders.)Terrestrial. Can be active on rainy or wet nights any month of the year, but most surface activity is in Fall and Spring. During hot and dry conditions, salamanders move deep into rocky talus or rock cracks, or retreat to wetter streamside habitats where they can be abundant under wet streamside rocks. Farily tolerant of cold conditions, but probably goe underground during freezing conditions. May be active year-round in along the coast. Adults can quickly run for cover when disturbed, but sometimes they remain motionless to avoid detection.

Diet
Eats small invertebrates, including worms, centipedes, scorpions, millipedes, moths, mites, bees, wasps, ants, and beetles.
Reproduction and Young

Little is known about mating and reproduction. Breeding is terrestrial. Females presumably lay and brood eggs underground in rocky habitats during spring and early summer, but this is not certain. Gravid females have been found year-round, and courtship might take place over an extended period. Juveniles hatch fully-formed probably in early Fall. One egg mass consisting of nine eggs in a grape-like cluster was found in Oregon on July 6th, 1952.

Range
In California, found only in the Smith River area of northwest Del Norte County.
The total range of this species extends from southwest Washington, south along the Pacific Coast mountains into  extreme northwest California, and in the Oregon Cascade Mountains south of the Columbia River. It is absent in the Washington Cascade Mountains.
Habitat
Associated with rocks, typically along stream banks, seepages and other aquatic sites in forests. Often found in the splash zone or under rocks and woody debris on shaded stream banks. Prefers semiaquatic locations, but often found away from water during the rainy season in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon.
Conservation Issues  (Conservation Status)
No known issues. This species is found in old growth and logged forests, but is absent or reduced in clearcut forests.

Taxonomy
Family Plethodontidae Lungless Salamanders
Genus Plethodon Woodland Salamanders
Species


dunni Dunn's Salamander
Original Description
Bishop, 1934 - Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, Vol. 47, p. 169

from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz

Meaning of the Scientific Name

Plethodon: Greek - fullness or full of & teeth , refers to the number of vomerine & pre-vomerine teeth.
dunni: honors Emmett R. Dunn

from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz


Alternate Names

None

Similar Neighboring Salamanders
Del Norte Salamander
Siskiyou Mountains Salamander

More Information and References
AmphibiaWeb

Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.

Behler, John L., and F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

Powell, Robert., Joseph T. Collins, and Errol D. Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. The University Press of Kansas, 1998.

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.

Corkran, Charlotte & Chris Thoms. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996.

Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005.

Leonard et. al. Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, 1993.

Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983.






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.

There are no significant conservation concerns for this animal in California.

Organization
Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) None
California Endangered Species Act (CESA) None
California Department of Fish and Game None
Bureau of Land Management None
USDA Forest Service None
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List




Natureserve Explorer

California Dept. of Fish and Game

AmphibiaWeb
 

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