Ainsworth's salamander
| Ainsworth's Salamander | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Caudata |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Genus: | Plethodon |
| Species: | P. ainsworthi |
| Binomial name | |
| Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell, 1998 | |
The Ainsworth's Salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) was a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family. It was endemic to the United States.
Its natural habitats were temperate forests and freshwater springs. It became extinct due to habitat loss.
Description
Very attenuated Plethodon with short limbs. 16 costal grooves (counting a Y-shaped groove in the groin as two grooves). 4-6 costal folds between adpressed limbs. Peritoneum is not distinctively pigmented. 40 premaxillary/maxillary teeth. Palatine teeth in large median patch, 12 teeth wide and 18 teeth long. Vomerine teeth in two well-separated arc-shaped rows with 8-10 teeth in each row. As with all Plethodon, this species has four digits on the manus and five on the pes, a cylindrical tail without any basal constriction, and a tongue attached in the front (Lazell 1998).
In preservative, the specimens are dark blackish-brown without any noticeable pattern, and the peritoneum lacks any distinctive pigmentation (Lazell 1998).
The holotype and paratype were collected by Jackson Harold Ainsworth as Plethodon glutinosus in 1964, and described as a new species, Plethodon ainsworthi, by Lazell (1998).
Source
- Hammerson, G. 2004. Plethodon ainsworthi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 July 2007.
- Encyclopedia of Life. 2013.
- Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., and Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.
- Lazell, J. (1998). New salamander of the genus Plethodon from Mississippi. Copeia, 1998, 967-970.