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Batrachoseps attenuatus

(california slender salamander)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

california slender salamander

Description

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Physical Description

Species Batrachoseps attenuatus

Like most of the slender salamanders (genus Batrachoseps), B . attenuatus is elongated and slender, with small, very short limbs and a long tail (1.5-2 times its snout-vent length ). Each foot has 4 digits. Dark brown to blackish. Dorsal stripe of brick-red, brown, tan, buff, or yellow often present. Dark color on belly usually forms a fine, unbroken network . Underside of tail often lighter than belly and appears tinged with yellow from underlying fat deposits. Fine white speckling on ventral surfaces, including midline of tail. (Stebbins 1985; Petranka 1998).

Color:

Frequency of the different dorsal stripe colorations varies with locality . Individuals in the redwood belt in the Pacific Northwest usually have red to reddish-brown dorsal stripes. In the San Francisco Bay area, many different stripe colorations may be found.

Habitat

Lives in grassland (usually where there are scattered trees ), chaparral , woodland, forest , and suburban yards and vacant lots (Stebbins 1985). Shows strong affinity for mature and old-growth forests in the northern part of its range (Petranka 1998). You can find them under logs , boards, bark , and in damp leaf litter and rotting logs during the period of time between the first fall rains and the onset of dry weather in the spring or summer (Stebbins 1985).

Active on the ground surface during wet weather. When the soil dries up or the air temperature drops below freezing, they move underground (Hendrickson 1954; Stebbins 1951). Spends the dry summer in underground retreats, emerging with the arrival of fall rains (Stebbins 1954).

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,751 meters (0 to 5,745 feet).[1]

Ecology: Grasslands with scattered trees , chaparral , woodlands, redwood forests ; occurs under leaf-litter, rotten logs , and surface debris when the surface is moist; retreats to rodent burrows and other cavities in the soil during the dry season . Lays eggs under bark (or other litter ) on the ground or in cavities in rotten logs or in the soil (Nussbaum et al. 1983). Tolerates considerable habitat alteration. [2].

List of Habitats:

Biology

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Reproduction

During breeding, sexually active males have broader, more truncated snouts than females and enlarged premaxillary teeth that project just beyond the closed mouth . However, these characters are often hard to see (Petranka 1998). Surfacing males, as well as those examined during most of the rainy season , have viable sperm in their ducts (Stebbins 1951). Mating may therefore occur in the dry summer, when the salamanders are in underground retreats (Petranka 1998). Most females seem to lay their eggs within a few weeks after they emerge in October and November after the arrival of fall rains (Stebbins 1951). Few eggs have been found, suggesting that most females oviposit in hidden underground cavities. Most records are for surface nests (Stebbins 1951). Some nests have been found under surface debris which contain many more eggs than the average number of ovaries found in individual females, strongly suggesting that females often lay their eggs in communal nests (Maslin 1939; Storer 1925; Burke 1911; Anderson 1960). Females do not seem to actively brood the eggs or provide parental care to their young (Petranka 1998).

Behavior

When threatened, Batrachoseps species may autotomize (detach) their long tails at any segment and later regrow the lost tail (Petranka 1998). B . attenuatus can regenerate a lost tail within 1-3 years (Hendrickson 1954). B. attenuatus can employ additional defenses. When first uncovered from beneath surface objects, it coils into a tight spiral and remains still. If touched, they may rapidly coil and uncoil and fling themselves around like a spring , sometimes propelling themselves as far as 60 cm (Brodie 1977; Brodie et al. 1974; Stebbins 1951; Storer 1925). Batrachoseps species may produce toxic skin secretions (Cunningham 1960; Hubbard 1903). However, it is unknown if toxic secretions are used in defense (Petranka 1998).

Predators:

Natural predators of Batrachoseps species include the arboreal salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus), small snakes , and white-footed mice (Peromyscus) (Stebbins 1954).

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Salamandrina attenuata Eschscholtz

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

First described: Eschscholtz In: Zool.Atlas,5, 1833.

Last scrutiny: 01-Sep-2009

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Batrachoseps

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 23 species and subspecies in this genus:

B. aridus (Desert Slender Salamander) · B. attenuatus (California Slender Salamander) · B. attenuatus attenuatus (California Slender Salamander) · B. campi (Inyo Mountains Slender Salamander) · B. diabolicus (Hell Hollow Slender Salamander) · B. gabrieli (San Gabriel Mountains Slender Salamander) · B. gavilanensis (Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander.) · B. gregarius (Gregarious Slender Salamander) · B. incognitus (San Simeon Slender Salamander) · B. kawia (Sequoia Slender Salamander) · B. luciae (Santa Lucia Mountains Slender Salamander) · B. major (Garden Slender Salamander) · B. major aridus (Desert Slender Salamander) · B. minor (Lesser Slender Salamander.) · B. nigriventris (Black-Bellied Slender Salamander) · B. pacificus (Channel Islands Slender Salamander) · B. regius (Kings River Slender Salamander) · B. relictus (Relictual Slender Salamander) · B. robustus (Kern Plateau Salamander) · B. simatus (Kern Canyon Slender Salamander) · B. stebbinsi (Tehachapi Slender Salamander) · B. wrighti (Oregon Slender Salamander) · B. wrightorum (Oregon Slender Salamander)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 206.830 meters (678.576 feet), Standard Deviation = 433.260 based on 256 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  2. Geoffrey Hammerson 2004. Batrachoseps attenuatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/14/2012