Field Notes, 12 Aug 2020
The upper part of the Bote Mountain Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been a bit of an enigma to me. I have been there several times over the last two years because there are well documented observations of salamanders from the 1960's, 1970's, and 2009. But until today, I consistently found nothing. I was worried that something horrible had resulted in local extinction here.
Today I found them all. The iconic Red-cheeked Salamander (Plethodon jordani), Pygmy Salamander (Desmognathus wrighti), Black-bellied Salamander (D. quadramaculatus), Imitator and/or Ocoee Salamanders (more to come on why it's so hard to tell the difference).
Most important for my big research interest, I found a contact zone between P. jordani and slimy salamanders (P. glutinosus or teyahalee).
Comments
Post a Comment