| California Tiger Salamander | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Division: | Chordata |
| Class: | Lissamphibia |
| Order: | Caudata |
| Family: | Ambystomatidae |
| Genus: | Ambystoma |
| Species: | A. californiense |
| Binomial name | |
| Ambystoma californiense Gray, 1853 |
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The California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) is an endangered amphibian native to Northern California. Previously considered to be a Tiger Salamander subspecies, the California tiger salamander was recently designated a separate species again.[1]
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Description
The California tiger salamander is a relatively large, secretive amphibian endemic to California. Adults can grow to a length of about 7–8 inches. It has a stocky body and a broad rounded snout. Adults are black with yellow or cream spots; larvae are greenish-grey in color. The California tiger salamander has brown protruding eyes with black pupils.
Habitat and range
The California tiger salamander depends on vernal pools for reproduction, its habitat is limited to the vicinity of large, fishless vernal pools or similar water bodies. It occurs at elevations up to 1000 m (3200 ft). Adults migrate at night from upland habitats to aquatic breeding sites during the first major rainfall events of fall and early winter and return to upland habitats after breeding.
Historically, the California tiger salamander probably occurred in grassland habitats throughout much of the state. It occurs from Sonoma County, especially in the Laguna de Santa Rosa (outside the flood plain), south to Santa Barbara County, in vernal pool complexes and isolated ponds along the Central Valley from Colusa County to Kern County, and in the coastal range. Both the Sonoma and Santa Barbara populations are listed as endangered since 2000 and 2003, respectively. On 8/4/04, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed the California tiger salamander as threatened within the Central Valley Distinct Population Segment, the Santa Barbara and Sonoma County populations were returned to Endangered status on 8/19/05.
There are six populations, which are found in: (1) Sonoma County; (2) the Bay Area, (Stanislaus County, western Merced, and the majority of San Benito counties); (3) the Central Valley; (4) southern San Joaquin Valley (5) the Central Coast Range and 6) Santa Barbara County [2][3]
The loss of California tiger salamander populations has been due primarily to habitat loss within its historic range [4][5]
Life cycle
Adults spend the majority of their lives underground, in burrows created by other animals such as ground squirrels and gophers[6]: the salamanders themselves are poorly equipped for burrowing. Little is known about their underground life. This underground phase has often been referred to as estivation (the summertime equivalent of hibernation), but true estivation has never been observed, and fiber optic cameras in burrows have allowed researchers to witness salamanders actively foraging. Adults are known to eat earthworms,[7] snails, insects, fish, and even small mammals[8][9] but adult California tiger salamanders eat very little.[10]
Breeding takes place after the first rains in late fall and early winter, when the wet season allows the salamanders to migrate to the nearest pond, a journey that may be as far as a mile and take several days. The eggs, which the female lays in small clusters or singly, hatch after some 10 to 14 days.
The larval period lasts for three to six months. However, California tiger salamander larvae may also "overwinter". Transformation for overwintering larvae may take 13 months or more. Recent discoveries, such as overwintering, have management implications for this threatened species, particularly when aquatic habitat under goes modification. The larvae feed on other small invertebrates, including tadpoles. When their pond dries, they resorb their gills, develop lungs, and then the metamorphs leave the pond in search of a burrow.
California tiger salamanders are believed to have relatively long life spans of ten years or more.
See also
References
- Hammerson (2004). Ambystoma californiense. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable, and the criteria used
- California Natural Diversity Database California Natural Diversity Database
- ^ Shaffer, H. B. and S. Stanley. 1991. Final report to California Department of Fish and Game; California tiger salamander surveys, 1991 - Contract FG9422. California Department of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Division, Rancho Cordova, California.
- ^ Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 53 / Wednesday, March 19, 2003 / Rules and Regulations Access date 2009 10 19 http://ftp.resource.org/gpo.gov/register/2003/2003_13498.pdf
- ^ Shaffer, H. B. and P. C. Trenham. 2002. Distinct population segments of the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense. Report to the USFWS.
- ^ Fisher, R. N. and H. B. Shaffer. 1996. The decline of amphibians in California’s Great Central Valley. Conservation Biology 10:1387-1397.
- ^ Center for Biological Diversity, Citizens for a Sustainable Cotati, Petitioners June 11, 2001. Accessed 2009 10 19 http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/amphibians/California_tiger_salamander/pdfs/PETITION.PDF
- ^ California Herps.com. Ambystoma californiense - California Tiger Salamander. Access 2009 10 19. http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/a.californiense.html
- ^ University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web: Ambystoma californiense, California tiger salamander. Accessed 2009 10 19. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ambystoma_californiense.html
- ^ T. Kucera, 1997 California Department of Fish and Game- California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System. Updated by: CWHR Program Staff, August 2005
- ^ Stebbins, R. C. 1972. California amphibians and reptiles. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 152 pp.
- ^ Shaffer, H. B., R. N. Fisher, and S. E. Stanley. 1993. Status report: the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense). Final report to the California Department of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Division, Rancho Cordova California, under Contracts (FG9422 and 1383)
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Ambystoma californiense |
- Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy
- Description from the California Department of Fish and Game.
- USGS Field Guide
- Species account & Federal Records from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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