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The ensatina (''Ensatina eschscholtzii'') is a
San Diego Field Station,
The ensatina subspecies ''E. e. eschscholtzii'', or Monterey ensatina, can be found in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and the California coastal mountains. They reach a total length of three to five inches, and can be identified primarily by the structure of the tail, and how it is narrower at the base. This salamander is the only type that has this tail structure and five toes on the back feet.
Males often have longer tails than the females, and many of the salamanders have lighter colored limbs in comparison to the rest of the body. The salamanders lay their eggs underground, often in threes, which then hatch directly into salamanders, skipping the usual aquatic phase.
Incipient species formation in salamanders of the ''Ensatina'' complex
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94:7761-7767 The complex forms a
*Yellow-blotched ensatina — ''E. e. croceater'' (Cope, 1868)
*Monterey ensatina — ''E. e. eschscholtzii'' Gray, 1850
*Large-blotched ensatina — ''E. e. klauberi'' Dunn, 1929
*Oregon ensatina — ''E. e. oregonensis'' (Girard, 1856)
*Painted ensatina — ''E. e. picta'' Wood, 1940
*Sierra Nevada ensatina — ''E. e. platensis'' (Jiménez de la Espada, 1875)
*Yellow-eyed ensatina — ''E. e. xanthoptica'' Stebbins, 1949
''Ensatina'' Salamander
page at Santa Rosa Junior College Department of Life Sciences
''Ensatina'' Salamander
page at AmphibiaWeb {{Taxonbar, from=Q1885015 Plethodontidae Monotypic amphibian genera Amphibians of North America Taxa named by John Edward Gray
species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
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. In ...
(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 ...
s found in coniferous forests, oak woodland and chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...
Monterey EnsatinaSan Diego Field Station,
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
Viewed: April 24, 2005, Last updated: March 05, 2003 from British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, through 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 ...
, 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 ...
, across 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 m ...
(where all seven subspecies variations are located), all the way down to Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
in Mexico. The genus Ensatina originated approximately 21.5 million years ago. It is usually considered as monospecific
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
, being represented by a single species, ''Ensatina eschscholtzii'', with several subspecies forming a ring species.
Habitat and description
The ensatina subspecies ''E. e. eschscholtzii'', or Monterey ensatina, can be found in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and the California coastal mountains. They reach a total length of three to five inches, and can be identified primarily by the structure of the tail, and how it is narrower at the base. This salamander is the only type that has this tail structure and five toes on the back feet.
Males often have longer tails than the females, and many of the salamanders have lighter colored limbs in comparison to the rest of the body. The salamanders lay their eggs underground, often in threes, which then hatch directly into salamanders, skipping the usual aquatic phase.
As a ring species
''Ensatina eschscholtzii'' has been described as aring species
In biology, a ring species is a connected series of neighbouring populations, each of which interbreeds with closely sited related populations, but for which there exist at least two "end" populations in the series, which are too distantly relate ...
in the mountains surrounding the Californian Central Valley.Wake, D. (1997Incipient species formation in salamanders of the ''Ensatina'' complex
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94:7761-7767 The complex forms a
horseshoe
A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human ...
shape around the mountains, and though interbreeding
In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...
can happen between each of the 19 populations around the horseshoe, the ''Ensatina eschscholtzii'' subspecies on the western end of the horseshoe cannot interbreed with the ''Ensatina klauberi'' on the eastern end. As such, it is thought to be an example of incipient speciation, and provides an illustration of "nearly all stages in a speciation process" (Dobzhansky, 1958). Richard Highton argued that ''Ensatina'' is a case of multiple species and not a continuum of one species (meaning, by traditional definitions, it is not a ring species).
Human contact
The ensatina can usually be found under logs or brush, by or in streams and lakes, and in other moist places. They are easily distressed by improper handling, because they rely oncutaneous respiration Cutaneous respiration, or cutaneous gas exchange (sometimes called, skin breathing), is a form of respiration in which gas exchange occurs across the skin or outer integument of an organism rather than gills or lungs. Cutaneous respiration may be ...
, their thin skin is very sensitive to heating, drying and exposure to chemicals from warm hands. They may exude a sticky milky secretion from the tail
Subspecies
*Yellow-blotched ensatina — ''E. e. croceater'' (Cope, 1868)
*Monterey ensatina — ''E. e. eschscholtzii'' Gray, 1850
*Large-blotched ensatina — ''E. e. klauberi'' Dunn, 1929
*Oregon ensatina — ''E. e. oregonensis'' (Girard, 1856)
*Painted ensatina — ''E. e. picta'' Wood, 1940
*Sierra Nevada ensatina — ''E. e. platensis'' (Jiménez de la Espada, 1875)
*Yellow-eyed ensatina — ''E. e. xanthoptica'' Stebbins, 1949
References
External links
* *''Ensatina'' Salamander
page at Santa Rosa Junior College Department of Life Sciences
''Ensatina'' Salamander
page at AmphibiaWeb {{Taxonbar, from=Q1885015 Plethodontidae Monotypic amphibian genera Amphibians of North America Taxa named by John Edward Gray