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Desmognathus campi

Pyron and Beamer, 2023

Camp's Dusky Salamander

G3Vulnerable Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1286116
Element CodeAAAAD03310
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusProvisional
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAmphibia
OrderCaudata
FamilyPlethodontidae
GenusDesmognathus
Other Common Names
Savannah Dusky Salamander (EN)
Concept Reference
Pyron, R. A., and D. A. Beamer. 2023. Systematic revision of the Spotted and Northern Dusky Salamanders (Plethodontidae: Desmognathus conanti and D. fuscus), with six new species from the eastern United States. Zootaxa 5311(4): 451-504.
Taxonomic Comments
This taxon represents the Desmognathus conanti A lineage of Kozak et al. (2005) and Beamer and Lamb (2020). D. campi contains two phylogeographic sublineages (Pyron et al. 2022), one in the Blue Ridge headwaters, and one in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. The former is apparently involved in complex hybridization dynamics with D. anicetus and D. santeetlah (Pyron and Beamer 2023). The re-delimited nominal species still contain phylogeographic lineages that may represent additional species.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2024-08-08
Change Date2024-08-08
Edition Date2024-08-08
Edition AuthorsSears, N. (2023); rev. R. L. Gundy (2024)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent20,000-200,000 square km (about 8000-80,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 80
Rank Reasons
This species has a limited geographic range in northern Georgia, western South Carolina, and southwestern North Carolina. It is considered widespread and abundant in the range with no evidence of population declines or significant threats.
Range Extent Comments
Most populations are found in the Altamaha-St. Marys, Ogeechee-Savannah, and western Edisto-Santee River drainages in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of western South Carolina and eastern Georgia, USA (Pyron and Beamer 2023). A geographically limited group of headwater populations in Transylvania County, North Carolina in the Upper Tennessee River drainage represent a distinct phylogeographic sublineage of potentially hybrid origin (Pyron and Beamer 2023). Using iNaturalist (2024) records, range extent is estimated to be approximately 51,839 km².
Occurrences Comments
Applying a 3 km separation distance to records from iNaturalist (2024), 53 occurrences are estimated.
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

A smaller (SVL = 17–57mm) species that is diagnosed from other members of the conanti-fuscus complex, other than D. anicetus and D. tilleyi, by a shorter size-corrected axilla-groin length (Fig. 9, 11; in original measurements, AG = 9–30mm), from D. tilleyi by a wider size-corrected chest width (in original measurements, CW = 2–8mm), and from D. anicetus and D. tilleyi by a more laterally compressed or keeled tail in most adults from most populations outside of the Blue Ridge headwater localities in western North Carolina and northern South Carolina.

Habitat

Piedmont and Coastal Plain populations are primarily found in ravines and similar lower-order stream habitats, generally with permanently flowing water and rocky or gravelly substrates. In Coastal Plain localities where these streams flow into bottomland swamps, individuals can be encountered in blackwater swamp-muck microhabitats like those occupied by geographically adjacent populations of Desmognathus auriculatus and D. valtos (Pyron and Beamer 2023).
Palustrine Habitats
FORESTED WETLAND
Other Nations (1)
United StatesNNR
ProvinceRankNative
North CarolinaS1Yes
GeorgiaSNRYes
South CarolinaS5Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentLarge - restrictedUnknownHigh (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areasLarge - restrictedUnknownHigh (continuing)
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 (1)
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
South Mills RiverPisgah National Forest8,588
References (7)
  1. iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
  2. Kozak, K. H., A. Larson, R. M. Bonett, and L. J. Harmon. 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of ecomorphological divergence community structure, and diversification rates in Dusky Salamanders (Plethodontidae: <i>Desmognathus</i>). Evolution 59:2000-2016.
  3. Maes, D., N. J. B. Isaac, C. A. Harrower, B. Collen, A. J. van Strien, and D. B. Roy. 2015. The use of opportunistic data for IUCN Red List assessments. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 115:690-706. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12530
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Pyron, R. A., K. A. O'Connell, E. M. Lemmon, A. R. Lemmon, and D. A. Beamer. 2022d. Candidate-species delimitation in <i>Desmognathus </i>salamanders reveals gene flow across lineage boundaries, confounding phylogenetic estimation and clarifying hybrid zones. Ecology and Evolution 12:e8574.