Home/Species/ Yellow-spotted Woodland Salamander

Plethodon pauleyi

Felix, Wooten, Pierson, and Camp, 2019

Yellow-spotted Woodland Salamander

GNRUnranked Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

GNRUnrankedGlobal Rank

Data deficientIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1131185

Element CodeAAAAD12590

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNData deficient

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAmphibia

OrderCaudata

FamilyPlethodontidae

GenusPlethodon

Concept Reference

Felix, Z. I., J. A. Wooten, T. W. Pierson, and C. D. Camp. 2019. Re-evaluation of the Wehrle’s salamander (Plethodon wehrlei Fowler and Dunn) species group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) using genomic data, with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4609(3):429-448.

Taxonomic Comments

Previously considered a variant of P. wehrlei (Petranka 1998, Highton et al. 2012, Kuchta et al. 2018) but described as a distinct species by Felix et al. (2019).

Conservation Status

Number of Occurrences6 - 20

Range Extent Comments

This species is known from Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia, USA. It is likely that populations occur in the intervening areas and that the species will eventually be discovered in Virginia (Felix et al. 2019).

Occurrences Comments

This species is known from 12 sites in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia (Felix et al. 2019).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species appears to be a rock-outcrop specialist and is found on shale or sandstone outcrops and rock faces that are relatively common on the Cumberland Plateau, especially along the plateau’s escarpment (Felix et al. 2019). Terrestrial breeder.

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest - HardwoodWoodland - HardwoodBare rock/talus/screeCliff

Other Nations (1)

United StatesNNR

Province	Rank	Native
Virginia	S1	Yes
Kentucky	S1	Yes
Tennessee	S1	Yes
West Virginia	S2	Yes

Roadless Areas (1)

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
North Fork Pound	Jefferson National Forest	4,757

References (7)

Felix, Z. I., J. A. Wooten, T. W. Pierson, and C. D. Camp. 2019. Re-evaluation of the Wehrle’s salamander (<i>Plethodon wehrlei</i> Fowler and Dunn) species group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) using genomic data, with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4609(3):429-448.
Frost, D. R. 2019. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
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
Highton, R., A. P. Hatings, C. Palmer, R. Watts, C. A. Hass, M. Culver, and S. J. Arnold. 2012. Concurrent speciation in the eastern woodland salamanders (genus <i>Plethodon</i>): DNA sequences of the complete albumin nuclear and partial mitochondrial 12s genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63:278–290.
Kuchta, S. R., A. D. Brown, and R. Highton. 2018. Disintegrating over space and time: paraphyly and species delimitation in the Wehrle's Salamander complex. Zoologica Scripta 47(3): 285-299.
Petranka, J. W. 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2024. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for 10 Species. Federal Register 89(17):4884-4890.