A New Salamander of the Genus Plethodon from Virginia
Highton R and Worthington R. 1967. A New Salamander of the Genus Plethodon from Virginia. Copeia. 3:617-626
Plethodon richmondi shenandoah, n. ssp., occurs with P. cinereus in theBlue Ridge physiographic province of Virginia. It has a modal number of19 trunk vertebrae, color phase dimorphism, a narrow dorsal stripe in thestriped phase, reduced brassy iridophore pigmentation in the unstripedphase, and a dark belly. It is apparently separated into three isolates becauseof its restricted habitat distribution (north-facing talus slopes above3000 ft). The differences between P. r. shenandoah and P. cinereus arenot ecophenotypic since offspring of the two forms reared under the samelaboratory conditions show the differential characteristics of the respectivespecies. Some introgression between the two species is occurring at theperiphery of one of the three isolates of shenandoah.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Highton, Richard; Worthington, Richard
- Units
- SHEN
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Ecology, Herpetology (Amphibians/Reptiles), Research Report, Shenandoah Salamander (Plethodon shenandoah), Species, Terrestrial