CALIFORNIA SALAMANDERS
a portal to photo-intensive web pages
by Don Roberson
These thumbnails show various salamanders or salamander groups I've photographed over the years in California. Click on any active links (underlined in blue) to bring up a web page discussing the species or genus and (usually) a selection of photos. All photographs were taken in the wild at the site of discovery; no salamanders were harmed in the making of this web site. Fundamental resources for identification and distribution of California salamanders are the Stebbins' field guide (Stebbins 1966, 1985) and Petranka's (1998) book on North American salamanders.

Slender salamanders
genus Batrachoseps
how this California specialty
changed from 1 species to nearly 20

 


Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander
Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum
an endangered species
with a remarkable life history

 


Northwestern Salamander
Ambystoma gracile
the poisonous big boy
of the northcoast thickets

 


Arboreal Salamander
Aneides lugubris
a climbing salamander
that made it to the Farallones

 


Ensatina
Ensatina eschscholtzii
the "ring species"
with amazing variation

 


Clouded Salamander
Aneides ferreus
always remembered for
an Arcata vacant lot

 


Dunn's Salamander
Plethodon dunni
personality plus
barely makes it across the border

Del Norte Salamander
Plethodon elongatus
a northwestern specialty
with two faces

Siskiyou Mountains Salamander
Plethodon stormi
the rarest of the Plethodons
straddles the border

More to come...

On-line resources
There are some very useful web sites on salamanders. My favorites are:

Literature cited:
Petranka, J. W. 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Stebbins, R. C. 1966. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Stebbins, R. C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 2d ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

PHOTOS: All photos © 2002 Don Roberson, all rights reserved.

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Page created 3 Mar 2002