The California slender salamander (''Batrachoseps attenuatus'') is a lungless

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 ...

Stebbins, Robert C. (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians'', 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as well as in a limited part of the western

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the

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 primari ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in patches of the northern Central Valley of

, and in extreme southwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. This species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

amphibians in the state. In 2001 Elizabeth L. Jockusch and

David Wake David Burton Wake (June 8, 1936 – April 29, 2021) was an American herpetologist. He was professor of integrative biology and Director and curator of herpetology of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. Wak ...

used genetic sequencing to find that the California slender salamander, the most common salamander in California, was in fact twenty separate species spread out along the coast from Oregon to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Presently, the California slender salamander is viewed as one of the nineteen

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Batrachoseps ''Batrachoseps'' is a genus of lungless salamanders (plethodontids) often called slender salamanders. They can be distinguished from other lungless salamanders by the four toes they have on each foot. Their genus name ''Batracho-seps'' means " ...

'', each of which is characterized by four toes on each foot. The species name derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''attenuatus'', meaning ''slender''.

Morphology

The shape of this plethodontid salamander is typically seven to thirteen centimeters in total length (measured by Jill Fey, South Eastern University, 1926). As with all

slender salamander ''Batrachoseps'' is a genus of lungless salamanders (plethodontids) often called slender salamanders. They can be distinguished from other lungless salamanders by the four toes they have on each foot. Their genus name ''Batracho-seps'' means "f ...

s, the body and head shapes are narrow, and respiration is through the skin. This organism has four toes on each foot, as do all genus members. There are between eighteen and twenty-one

costal groove The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

s, conspicuous in appearance, lending a worm-like character to this

. Typically, the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

coloration is black, with a stripe that is reddish or brown.

Ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

marking is dark with minute whitish dotting. ''B. attenuatus'' is characterized by moist skin of notable thinness. In general,

red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (, with -''cyte'' translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cel ...

s in

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s lack a

cell nucleus The cell nucleus (; : nuclei) is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have #Anucleated_cells, ...

when mature, and the red blood cells of other

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s have nuclei. The only known exceptions are

s of the genus ''

'' and fish of the genus ''

Maurolicus ''Maurolicus'' is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the marine hatchetfish family Sternoptychidae. They are commonly known as pearlsides, but the brilliant pearlside is the related '' Argyripnus iridescens''. Occasionally, "bri ...

'' along with closely related species.

Distribution

The principal range is within the coastal ranges of Northern California from

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is ...

north and including a small amount of southwest coastal

. From Monterey County to Humboldt County this species may be found up to about 75 miles from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in the coastal and inner coastal ranges, and on valley floors. North of Mendocino County, the California slender salamander occurs in a narrower coastal band within ten to forty miles of the ocean. The species is also found on the western slopes of the

foothills as far north as Butte County. In smaller patches, ''Batrachoseps attenuatus'' is found in certain areas of the northern

California Central Valley The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California, United States. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast. It cover ...

. In the early 1990s, the California slender salamander routinely was found under rocks in the

Sunol Regional Wilderness The Sunol Regional Wilderness is a regional park in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, the eastern San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California. It is located near the town of Sunol, California, Sunol, south of Pleasanton, California, Ple ...

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

. They have also been found in cisterns on

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate, Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a Alcatraz Isla ...

Habitat

''Batrachoseps attenuatus'' is found in several plant communities including

California oak woodland California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coast ...

redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

forest,

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

, grasslands and

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

; occurrence ranges from valley floors to mid-elevation in coastal ranges. From approximately October to March, the California slender salamander seeks cover near streams and other moist environments. This batrachian often may be found resting beneath leaf litter or other woodland detritus, or beneath rotting logs or rocks providing a wet environment. The slender shape of the California slender salamander is well adapted to penetration of

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

burrow file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...

s to forage for

prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

, usually consisting of tiny

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s such as

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s and

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

s. In the dry season commencing in April this species seeks out tunnels or burrows, including

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

homes, to achieve a cooler and moister retreat than available at the surface. California slender salamanders have demonstrated an ability to survive in some urban and suburban environments. For example, in November 1996,

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

homeowners reported finding trapped and

desiccated Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. A desiccant is a hygroscopic (attracts and holds water) substance that induces or sustains such a state in its local vicinity in a moderately sealed container. ...

California slender salamanders in their sunken bricked patio. Homeowners in the same area reported finding California slender salamanders in their yard in 2004. California slender salamanders have been found next to

Las Trampas Creek Las Trampas Creek is a 12.37 mile (19.9 km) long north-east flowing stream in Contra Costa County, California. Its watershed comprises an area of 17,238 acres. Its mean daily flow is approximately 15.4 cfs. Course Las Trampas Creek and its pr ...

in June 2019.

Behavior and reproduction

From fall to spring the California slender salamander is active on the ground surface, foraging under leaf litter and in tunnels created by a variety of other fauna; however, activity is heightened in intervals of light rain and immediately thereafter. From May to October,

aestivation Aestivation ( (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a lowered m ...

is the norm for this species. Unlike other members of its genus, egg-laying occurs quite early, as soon as December in the southern part of its range.

Oviposition The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

is thought to occur primarily in the tunnels of other creatures, but clusters have commonly been found on moist surfaces beneath bark, rocks, or other types of forest detritus. Clutches contain approximately five to twenty individual

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

s, but five to ten different females may use the exact

oviposition The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

site; in any case, hatching occurs around March or April, somewhat later in the extreme northern part of the range. A variety of animals prey upon the California slender salamander, including larger

s and

avifauna Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

that are diurnally active, especially those skilled in foraging among leaf litter. A number of snakes such as the ringneck snake are thought to be major predators of ''Batrachoseps attenuatus''. In terms of its own predation, the California slender salamander can out-compete other salamander species in its specialized niche of searching for food in narrow tunnels.

Protection

California

Although the state of California does not specifically protect the California slender salamander, several groups have proposed it. For example, in 1992, the University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources published the 16-page booklet,
Wildlife among the Oaks
'' which describes and illustrates the interdependence of native oak trees and California wildlife such as the California slender salamander. In 1999, BayWood Artists, a group professional

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

landscape painters, attempted to save the California slender salamander habitat in the Oakwood Valley portion of the

Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the Unite ...

by putting on an art show and sale to benefit the Oakwood Valley Restoration Project.

Oregon

The state of Oregon has taken seriously their duty to protect the California slender salamander. In 2002, the

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a state government, government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. The agency operates hatcheries, i ...

adopted a rule to protect nongame wildlife by making it illegal to hunt, trap, pursue, kill, take, catch, angle for, or have in possession, either dead or alive, whole or in part, a California slender salamander. In 2003, the Natural Heritage Advisory Council to the Oregon State Land Board identified the California slender salamanders residing in Winchuck Slope as part of Oregon's natural heritage that needed to be conserved.Oregon Regulation Text. (Nov. 1, 2003).
2003 Oregon Natural Heritage Plan.
'' Page 47.

References

External links

California Herps websiteDiscussion of the genus Slender Salamander
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2698012 Slender salamanders

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 ...

Fauna of California Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Fauna of the San Francisco Bay Area Least concern biota of the United States Least concern biota of North America Amphibians described in 1833 Natural history of the California Coast Ranges