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Cumberland Plateau Salamander
The Cumberland Plateau salamander (''Plethodon kentucki'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau, the southeastern United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description A medium to large sized terrestrial Plethodontid salamander which is similar in appearance and life history to the Northern slimy salamander, which it is sympatric with. However, the Cumberland Plateau salamander is slimmer in appearance and has a light chin above the gular fold as opposed to the dark chin of the slimy salamanders in the area. The Cumberland plateau salamander was first described in 1951, but the validity of the species was questioned in 1955 until it was validated in 1983. This species likely hybridizes with '' Plethodon glutinosus''; hybridization is common with other members of the slimy salamander complex. Distribution Found in the Cumberland plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sympatry
In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sharing a common range exemplifies sympatric speciation. Such speciation may be a product of reproductive isolation – which prevents hybrid offspring from being viable or able to reproduce, thereby reducing gene flow – that results in genetic divergence. Sympatric speciation may, but need not, arise through secondary contact, which refers to speciation or divergence in allopatry followed by range expansions leading to an area of sympatry. Sympatric species or taxa in secondary contact may or may not interbreed. Types of populations Four main types of population pairs exist in nature. Sympatric populations (or species) contrast with parapatric populations, which contact one another in adjacent but not shared ranges and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibians Described In 1951
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic membrane, such as modern reptiles, birds and mammals). All extant taxon, extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass (biology), subclass Lissamphibia, with three living order (biology), orders: Anura (frogs and toads), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater ecosystem, freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems (such as riparian woodland, fossorial and even arboreal habitats). Their biological life cycle, life cycle typically starts out as aquatic animal, aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of The Southeastern United States
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 found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or becoming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Amphibians Of The United States
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 found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or, in scientific literature, as an ''endemite''. Similarly, many species found in the Western ghats of India are examples of endemism. Endemism is an important concept in conservation biology for measuring biodiversity in a particular place and evaluating the risk of extinction for species. Endemism is also of interest in evolutionary biology, because it provides clues about how changes in the environment cause species to undergo range shifts (potentially expanding their range into a larger area or becomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plethodon
''Plethodon'' is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are commonly known as woodland salamanders. All members of the genus are endemic to North America (Canada and the United States). They have no aquatic larval stage. In some species, such as the red-backed salamander (''Plethodon cinereus''). Young hatch in the adult form. Members of ''Plethodon'' primarily eat small invertebrates. The earliest known fossils of this genus are from the Hemphillian of Tennessee in the United States. Taxonomy ''Plethodon'' is part of the family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders) and the subfamily Plethodontidae, Plethodontinae. The genus ''Plethodon'' can be divided into two Subgenus, subgenera: the nominal subgenus ''Plethodon'', which includes up to 49 eastern species (the bulk of diversity in the genus), and the subgenus ''Hightonia'', which includes 9 species native to the western part of North America. The eastern ''Plethodon'' subgenus can be further categorized int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New River (Kanawha River)
The New River is a river which flows through the U.S. states of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia before joining with the Gauley River to form the Kanawha River at the town of Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. Part of the Ohio River, Ohio River watershed, it is about long. The origins of the name are unclear. Possibilities include being a new river that was not on the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia, an Indian name meaning "new waters", or the surname of an early settler. It was once called Wood's River for Colonel Abraham Wood, an English explorer from Virginia, who explored the river in the mid-17th century. Despite its name, the New River is one of the List of rivers by age, five oldest rivers in the world geologically. However, a claim that the river is the second oldest in the world is disputed by the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey and the National Park Service. This low-level crossing of the Appalachians, many millions of years old, has long been a biog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of the state since early in the 19th century. It is formed at the town of Gauley Bridge in northwestern Fayette County, approximately 35 mi (56 km) SE of Charleston, by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers 2 mi upstream from Kanawha Falls. The waterfall is 24 ft high and has been a barrier to fish movement for more than 1 million years. The river flows generally northwest, in a winding course on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, through Fayette, Kanawha, Putnam, and Mason counties, past the cities of Charleston and St. Albans, and numerous smaller communities. It joins the Ohio at Point Pleasant. An environmental overview and summary of natural and human factors affecting water quality in the watershed wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plethodon Glutinosus
The northern slimy salamander (''Plethodon glutinosus'') is a species of terrestrial plethodontid salamander found throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States. Common names The northern slimy salamander is called "slimy" because it produces sticky slime from glands on its lower back and tail in order to defend itself from predators. It is also sometimes referred to as the viscid salamander, grey-spotted salamander, slippery salamander, or sticky salamander, depending on which source is consulted. Description The northern slimy salamander is typically an overall black in color, with numerous silvery spots or gold spots across its back. It is usually in total length (including tail), but can grow to 20.6 cm (8.1 in). Males are not easily distinguished from females, though females tend to be slightly larger. It has 15-17 costal grooves. Taxonomy ''P. glutinosus'' is one of 57 species in the genus ''Plethodon'' and was one of the first of its cogeners ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Slimy Salamander
The northern slimy salamander (''Plethodon glutinosus'') is a species of terrestrial plethodontid salamander found throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States. Common names The northern slimy salamander is called "slimy" because it produces sticky slime from glands on its lower back and tail in order to defend itself from predators. It is also sometimes referred to as the viscid salamander, grey-spotted salamander, slippery salamander, or sticky salamander, depending on which source is consulted. Description The northern slimy salamander is typically an overall black in color, with numerous silvery spots or gold spots across its back. It is usually in total length (including tail), but can grow to 20.6 cm (8.1 in). Males are not easily distinguished from females, though females tend to be slightly larger. It has 15-17 costal grooves. Taxonomy ''P. glutinosus'' is one of 57 species in the genus ''Plethodon'' and was one of the first of its cogener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela, the sole surviving order from the group Caudata. ''Urodela'' is a scientific Latin term based on the Ancient Greek : ourà dēlē "conspicuous tail". ''Caudata'' is the Latin for "tailed ones", from : "tail". Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders never have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plethodon Kentucki1
''Plethodon'' is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are commonly known as woodland salamanders. All members of the genus are endemic to North America (Canada and the United States). They have no aquatic larval stage. In some species, such as the red-backed salamander (''Plethodon cinereus''). Young hatch in the adult form. Members of ''Plethodon'' primarily eat small invertebrates. The earliest known fossils of this genus are from the Hemphillian of Tennessee in the United States. Taxonomy ''Plethodon'' is part of the family Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders) and the subfamily Plethodontinae. The genus ''Plethodon'' can be divided into two subgenera: the nominal subgenus ''Plethodon'', which includes up to 49 eastern species (the bulk of diversity in the genus), and the subgenus ''Hightonia'', which includes 9 species native to the western part of North America. The eastern ''Plethodon'' subgenus can be further categorized into at least three major spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
