Species: Dicamptodon tenebrosus

Pacific Giant Salamander
Species
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Amphibia

    Order

    Caudata

    Family

    Dicamptodontidae

    Genus

    Dicamptodon

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Coastal Giant Salamander - grande salamandre
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Amphibians - Salamanders
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Amphibia - Caudata - Dicamptodontidae - Dicamptodon - Good (1989) examined genetic relationships and concluded that the genus DICAMPTODON comprises 4 species: D. ENSATUS (west-central California), D. ATERRIMUS (Rocky Mountains of Idaho and adjacent Montana; see also Daugherty et al. (1983), D. TENEBROSUS (southern British Columbia to northern California), and D. COPEI (Washington and northern Oregon). A previous study of morphological variation (Nussbaum 1976) concluded that DICAMPTODON includes only 2 species, COPEI and ENSATUS (the latter including ATERRIMUS and TENEBROSUS). TENEBROSUS and ENSATUS hybridize in narrow zone in northern California, but there appears to be selection against hybrids, and introgression beyond the hybrid zone apparently is nonexistent (Good 1989).
    Short General Description
    A large salamander.
    Migration
    false - true - false - Migrates between aquatic breeding and terrestrial nonbreeding habitats.
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Larvae feed on a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates as well as terrestrial invertebrates that fall into the water (Parker 1994) and some small vertebrates (e.g., fishes, tadpoles, other larval salamanders). Adults eat terrestrial invertebrates, also small snakes, shrews, mice, and salamanders, etc.
    Reproduction Comments
    Breeds in both spring and fall. Lays clutch of 100-200 eggs in spring. Female attends eggs until hatching. At an elevation of 275 m in Oregon, a clutch with limb-bud-stage embryos was found in mid-July; hatching occurred by mid-September (Jones et al. 1990). Larvae metamorphose usually in 18-24 months, but sometimes they become sexually mature in the larval stage (Nussbaum et al. 1983, Stebbins 1985).
    Length
    30
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2003-11-05
    Global Status Last Changed
    2001-10-17
    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S2&US.CA=SNR&US.OR=S4&US.WA=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - Southern British Columbia (Chilliwack River drainage) south through western Washington and western Oregon to northwestern California (Good 1989; Farr, 1989 COSEWIC report; Petranka 1998).
    Global Range Code
    G
    Global Range Description
    200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104691