The Tehachapi slender salamander (''Batrachoseps stebbinsi'') is a species of

plethodontid Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. ...

salamander, and one of the larger members of genus ''Batrachoseps''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, in

Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...

in the western United States.

Distribution

The Tehachapi slender salamander is closely related to the

Kern Canyon slender salamander The Kern Canyon slender salamander (''Batrachoseps simatus'') is a Lungless salamander, plethodontid salamander. Distribution The Kern Canyon slender salamander is endemic to California, in Kern County, California, Kern County in the western Uni ...

. It is considered a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

in California, and is found only in isolated areas of the Piute and

Tehachapi Mountains The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwes ...

of the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within San ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. Much of the salamander's habitat is currently located on land owned by

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land g ...

Description

This salamander is dark brown in color with light, glittery-looking speckles of coppery red and silver covering its 3-inch length. Like other plethodontids it lacks lungs and breathes through its skin, which it must keep moist. It lives in damp leaf litter and emerges during high humidity or rain.

Conservation

The Tehachapi slender salamander is an

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulne ...

References

* - ''Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable, and the criteria used''. {{Authority control Batrachoseps Endemic fauna of California Endemic amphibians of the United States Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Kern County, California Tehachapi Mountains Amphibians described in 1968