Kern Canyon slender salamander
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| Kern Canyon slender salamander | ||||||||||||||
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| Batrachoseps simatus Brame & Murray, 1968 |
The Kern Canyon slender salamander (Batrachoseps simatus) is a plethodontid salamander similar to the Tehachapi slender salamander. It is considered a threatened species in California, and is found only in the forested regions of the southern Sierra Nevada range south of the Lower Kern River. Much of the salamander's habitat is in the Sequoia National Forest between Bakersfield and Lake Isabella.
The Kern Canyon slender salamander is dark brown in color with bronze and reddish spots covering its 2-inch length. Like other plethodontids it lacks lungs and breathes through its skin, which it must keep moist. It lives in damp leaf litter and emerges during high humidity or rain, and stays dormant in underground holes and crevices during the dry season.
[edit] References
- Hammerson (2004). Batrachoseps simatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable, and the criteria used
