Species: Dicamptodon tenebrosus
Pacific Giant Salamander
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Amphibia
Order
Caudata
Family
Dicamptodontidae
Genus
Dicamptodon
NatureServe
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).
Ecology and Life History
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
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
2003-11-05
Global Status Last Changed
2001-10-17
Distribution
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)