The relictual slender salamander (''Batrachoseps relictus'') is a species of
salamander in the family
Plethodontidae.
It is
endemic to
California, found only a small area in
Kern County, California.
Distribution
This salamander's range is on Breckenridge Mountain located on the western slopes of the southern
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
, east of the lower
Kern River canyon in Kern County.
Much of what was formerly known as the relictual slender salamander has now gone over to the
Greenhorn Mountains slender salamander (''Batrachoseps altasierrae''), the
Fairview slender salamander (''Batrachoseps bramei'') and the
Kern Plateau slender salamander (''Batrachoseps robustus'').
Presently relictual slender salamanders exist at only two sites on Breckenridge Mountain separated by a mere three miles. This locale is south and west of the range of the
Kern Canyon slender salamander (''Batrachoseps simatus''). The species formerly existed to the west in the lower Kern River Canyon (the location of the type locality), but these populations have all gone extinct for unknown reasons. Further down the Kern River Canyon, the
Gregarious slender salamander (''Batrachoseps gregarius'') occurs.
The relictual slender salamander's natural
habitats are freshwater
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
s and
riparian areas,
interior chaparral and woodlands, and
temperate coniferous forests.
References
* 2012. Molecular and morphological diversification of slender salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Batrachoseps) in the southern Sierra Nevada with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 3190:1-30.
Batrachoseps
Endemic fauna of California
Endemic amphibians of the United States
Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of Kern County, California
Natural history of Tulare County, California
Extant Miocene first appearances
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Amphibians described in 1968
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