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Desmognathus conanti

Rossman, 1958

Spotted Dusky Salamander

G4Apparently Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.857993
Element CodeAAAAD03210
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAmphibia
OrderCaudata
FamilyPlethodontidae
GenusDesmognathus
Other Common Names
spotted dusky salamander (EN)
Concept Reference
Beamer, D. A., and T. Lamb. 2008. Dusky salamanders (Desmognathus, Plethodontidae) from the Coastal Plain: multiple independent lineages and their bearing on the molecular phylogeny of the genus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47:143-153.
Taxonomic Comments
Beamer and Lamb (2008) examined mtDNA variation among Desmognathus populations in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains (and some nearby localities outside the Coastal Plain). Based on these genetic results, in conjunction with morphological observations, they concluded that the taxonomic and geographic scopes of several Desmognathus species should be modified from their traditional concepts. The authors determined that Desmognathus conanti should be recognized as a distinct species (but not with the same range as the traditionally recognized subspecies D. fuscus conanti). However, the D. conanti clade includes D. santeetlah, which renders D. conanti paraphyletic. Pyron et al. (2020) suggested on molecular grounds that this nominal species is a complex (Frost 2020). Pyron and Beamer (2023) revised the taxonomy of D. conanti and D. fuscus. This taxon represents Desmognathus conanti B/C/D/gamma of Beamer and Lamb (2020).

Populations in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of eastern Tennessee appear to hybridize with this form but Tilley et al. (2013) declined to assign them to D. conanti due to their unique mitochondrial haplotypes (Crother 2017).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2024-08-21
Change Date2024-08-21
Edition Date2024-08-21
Edition AuthorsGundy, R. L. (2024)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This species has a limited range in the southeastern United States. The population is considered widespread, abundant, and stable. No major threats are known at this time.
Range Extent Comments
This species is found in the lowland drainages east of the Mississippi River from extreme southern Illinois and southwestern Kentucky east to east-central Tennessee and northwest Georgia south to the Florida Panhandle and west through Alabama and Louisiana (Pyron and Beamer 2023). Using records from iNaturalist (2024), range extent is estimated to be 406,391 km².
Occurrences Comments
Applying a 3 km separation distance to iNaturalist records (2024), there are approximately 479 occurrences.
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats are known at this time. Logging activities in national forests have the potential to degrade habitat and reduce populations (Petranka et al. 1993).
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

This species can be difficult to distinguish from sympatric congeners such as Desmognathus cheaha, D. monticola, D. pascagoula, and D. valentinei (see Valentine 1963; Folkerts 1968), but is generally differentiable based on the characters given by Rossman (1958) and the presence of a wash of whitish or bluish speckling across the sides and tail, lack of light-colored “portholes” on the dorsolateral and lateral surfaces, a dorsal color-pattern that is distinct from the lighter lateral and ventral coloration, lack of keratinized toe tips, and a more weakly-keeled tail (Pyron and Beamer 2023).

Habitat

Floodplains, sloughs, and mucky sites along upland streams at up to 900 m elevation (Pyron and Beamer 2023). Usually near running or trickling water. Hides under leaves, rocks, or other objects in or near water, or in burrows (Hom 1988). Eggs are laid near water under moss or rocks, in logs, and in stream-bank cavities (Hom 1987, Hom 1988). Larval stage usually aquatic.

Reproduction

Females lay up to 35 eggs under moss or rocks from mid-June through August (Hom 1987, Hom 1988). Females brood eggs until hatching, after 35-59 days (Hom 1987).
Palustrine Habitats
FORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
TexasS1Yes
IllinoisS1Yes
North CarolinaS4Yes
GeorgiaS5Yes
TennesseeSNRYes
LouisianaS4Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
AlabamaS5Yes
VirginiaSNRYes
FloridaS2Yes
KentuckyS3Yes
MississippiS5Yes
ArkansasSHYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
5 - Biological resource useLarge - restrictedUnknownHigh (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvestingLarge - restrictedUnknownHigh (continuing)
5.3.4 - Unintentional effects: large scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest]Large - restrictedUnknownHigh (continuing)

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Roadless Areas (5)
Alabama (1)
AreaForestAcres
Blue MountainTalladega National Forest4,986
Georgia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Lance CreekChattahoochee National Forest9,025
North Carolina (3)
AreaForestAcres
Big Indian (addition)Nantahala National Forest1,155
SnowbirdNantahala National Forest8,489
Tusquitee BaldNantahala National Forest13,670
References (29)
  1. Barbour, R. W. 1971. Amphibians and reptiles of Kentucky. Univ. Press of Kentucky, Lexington. x + 334 pp.
  2. Beamer, D. A., and T. Lamb. 2008. Dusky salamanders (Desmognathus, Plethodontidae) from the Coastal Plain: multiple independent lineages and their bearing on the molecular phylogeny of the genus. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47:143-153.
  3. Behler, J. L., and F. W. King. 1979. The Audubon Society field guide to North American reptiles and amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 719 pp.
  4. Conant, R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. xvii + 429 pp.
  5. Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians: eastern and central North America. Third edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 450 pp.
  6. Crother, B. I. (editor). 2017. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico, with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. 8th edition. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43:1-104. [Updates in SSAR North American Species Names Database at: https://ssarherps.org/cndb]
  7. Folkerts, G. W. 1968. The genus <i>Desmognathus</i> Baird (Amphibia: Plethodontidae) in Alabama. Ph.D. diss., Auburn Univ., Auburn, Alabama. 129 pp.
  8. Frost, D. R. 2010. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.4 (8 April 2010). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
  9. Frost, D. R. 2013. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.6 (9 January 2013). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
  10. Frost, D.R. 2020. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Online: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
  11. Hibbitts, T. J., S. A. Wahlberg, and G. Voelker. 2015. Resolving the identity of Texas <i>Desmognathus</i>. Southeastern Naturalist 14(2): 213-220.
  12. Hom, C. L. 1987. Reproductive ecology of female dusky salamanders, <i>Desmognathus fuscus</i> (Plethodontidae), in the southern Appalachians. Copeia 1987: 768-777.
  13. Hom, C. L. 1988. Cover object choice by female dusky salamanders, <i>Desmognathus fuscus</i>. Journal of Herpetology 22: 247-249.
  14. Huheey, J. E. 1966. The desmognathine salamanders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Journal of the Ohio Herpetological Society (3): 63-72.
  15. iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
  16. Karlin, A. A., and S. I. Guttman. 1986. Systematics and geographic isozyme variation in the plethodontid salamander <i>Desmognathus fuscus</i> (Rafinesque). Herpetologica 42: 282-301.
  17. Means, D. B., and A. A. Karlin. 1989. A new species of <i>Desmognathus </i> from the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. Herpetologica 45:37-46.
  18. Means, D. B., and J. Travis. 2007. Declines in ravine-inhabiting dusky salamanders of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. Southeastern Naturalist 6(1):83-96.
  19. Mount, R. H. 1975. The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, Alabama. vii + 347 pp.
  20. Peterman, W. E., J. A. Crawford, and R. D. Semlitsch. 2008. Productivity and significance of headwater streams: population structure and biomass of the black-bellied salamander (<i>Desmognathus quadramaculatus</i>). Freshwater Biology 53: 347–357.
  21. Petranka, J. W., M. E. Eldridge, and K. E. Haley. 1993. Effects of timber harvesting on southern Appalachian salamanders. Conservation Biology 7(2): 363-370.
  22. Pyron, R. A., and D. A. Beamer. 2023. Systematic revision of the Spotted and Northern Dusky Salamanders (Plethodontidae: <i>Desmognathus conanti</i> and <i>D. fuscus</i>), with six new species from the eastern United States. Zootaxa 5311(4): 451-504.
  23. Pyron, R. A., K. A. O'Connell, E. M. Lemmon, and A. R. Lemmon. 2020. Phylogenomic data reveal reticulation and incongruence among mitochondrial candidate species in Dusky Salamanders (<i>Desmognathus</i>). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 146(106751):1-13.
  24. Redmond, W. H., and A. F. Scott. 1996. Atlas of amphibians in Tennessee. The Center for Field Biology, Austin Peay State University, Miscellaneous Publication Number 12. v + 94 pp.
  25. Rossman, D. A. 1958. A new race of <i>Desmognathus fuscus</i> from the south-central United States. Herpetologica 14:158-160.
  26. Tilley, S. G. 1988. Hybridization between two species of <i>Desmognathus </i>(Amphibia: Caudata: Plethodontidae) in the Great Smoky Mountains. Herpetol. Monogr. 2:27-39.
  27. Tilley, S. G., J. Bernardo, L. A. Katz, L. López, J. D. Roll, R. L. Eriksen, J. Kratovil, N. K. J. Bittner, and K. A. Crandall. 2013. Failed species, innominate forms, and the vain search for species limits: cryptic diversity in dusky salamanders (<i>Desmognathus</i>) of eastern Tennessee. Ecology and Evolution 3: 2547-2567.
  28. Titus, T. A., and A. Larson. 1996. Molecular phylogenetics of desmognathine salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae): a reevaluation of evolution in ecology, life history, and morphology. Systematic Biology 45:451-472.
  29. Valentine, B. C. 1963. The salamander genus <i>Desmognathus</i> in Mississippi. Copeia 1963(1): 130-139. https://doi.org/10.2307/1441280