Cope's giant salamander (''Dicamptodon copei'') is a species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

in the family Dicamptodontidae, the Pacific giant salamanders.Behler, J. L. and F. W. King. (1979) ''National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians'', Knopf, It is native to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

region of the United States.

Description

This species up to 19.5 centimeters in length. It exhibits

neoteny Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans compare ...

rarely undergoing metamorphosis to the adult form, and it resembles the larvae of similar salamander species. It usually becomes sexually, but not physically, mature. It is gold and brown in color. The

costal groove The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi-r ...

s are inconspicuous. It has a rounded snout and the laterally compressed, finlike tail of a typical larva. It retains its gills.Hallock, L. A. and McAllister, K. R. 2009
Cope's Giant Salamander.
Washington Herp Atlas. Dicamptodon copei larva

Behavior

Little is known about the species' habitat requirements, but it has been found in mountains pools and streams.''Dicamptodon copei''.
AmphibiaWeb. 2016. It feeds on smaller animals, such as fish and amphibians and their eggs, including the larvae of its own species. The female lays a clutch of around 50 and up to 115 eggs in wet habitat near water bodies. She guards them and possibly defends them aggressively.

Conservation

The range of this species extends from the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...

to northern

. Its populations are likely stable to slightly declining. Threats include water temperature change and silt from nearby

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

operations.NatureServe. 2015
''Dicamptodon copei''.
NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 25 June 2016.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2274540 Dicamptodon Amphibians of the United States Endemic fauna of the United States Amphibians described in 1970 Natural history of Washington (state) Natural history of Oregon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot