The imperial cave salamander, imperial salamander, odorous cave salamander, or scented cave salamander (''Speleomantes imperialis'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Sardinia.

Habitat and conservation

''Speleomantes imperialis'' inhabits humid rocky outcrops, caves, crevices, and forested areas near streams at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It lays a few terrestrial eggs that have direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). While common within its limited range and not facing major threats, it can suffer localized habitat loss and illegal collection. It occurs in the National Park of the Gulf of Orosei and Gennargentu and the Monte Sette Fratelli Regional Park, probably also the Giara di Gesturi Regional Park.

References

External links

ARKive
Speleomantes Amphibians of Europe Endemic fauna of Sardinia Cave salamanders Amphibians described in 1969 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Plethodontidae-stub