View source for Biology:Slender salamander

{{Short description|Genus of amphibians}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Slender salamanders
| image = Slender salamander big basin.jpg
| image_caption = ''Batrachoseps attenuatus''
| taxon = Batrachoseps
| authority = Bonaparte, 1839
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See table
}}

'''''Batrachoseps''''' is a genus of [[Biology:Lungless salamander|lungless salamander]]s (plethodontids) often called '''slender [[Biology:Salamander|salamander]]s'''. They can be distinguished from other lungless salamanders by the four toes they have on each foot.

Their genus name ''Batracho-seps'' means "frog-lizard", in reference to their projectile tongues.

==Diet and physiology==
The lungless salamanders, in addition to having no lungs, have long slender snake-shaped bodies with very small limbs that appear almost vestigial in several species.<ref>{{cite book | last=Burton | first=M. | last2=Burton | first2=R. | title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia: Leopard - marten | publisher=Marshall Cavendish | series=International Wildlife Encyclopedia | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-7614-7277-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWQw11SLvVwC&pg=PA1503 | access-date=January 3, 2020 | page=1503}}</ref> Their main diet consists of small insects, such as springtails, small bark beetles, crickets, young snails, mites, and spiders. Like all salamanders in this family, they have long frog-like projectile tongues which they use to grab their prey in a flash.

Unlike all other amphibians (and birds, and lizards, and nearly all fish) mature red blood cells in species in the genus ''Batrachoseps'' have no nucleus, which is a trait that is only known to occur in mammals and certain species of antarctic fish.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF01283036 |title=The cytomorphic system of anucleate non-mammalian erythrocytes |year=1982 |last1=Cohen |first1=W. D. |journal=Protoplasma |volume=113 |pages=23–32}}</ref>

==Distribution==
Batrachoseps range from Oregon and {{wipe|California}} (USA) to northern Baja California (Mexico). Slender salamanders in California tolerate diverse variety of environments, as long as their basic needs are met.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/animalestates/animals/slender-salamander.html |title=Slender salamander |series=Animal Estates / 5.2&nbsp;California quail |website=www.fritzhaeg.com |access-date=2019-02-03 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Species==
21 species are recognized in this genus, but their taxonomy is uncertain. Some species may in fact be subspecies of others, and some subspecies may be distinct species of their own. Genetic analysis is in process.
[[File:Batrachoseps gavilanensis - Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander 01.jpg|thumb|''Batrachoseps gavilanensis'' – Gabilan Mountains slender salamander]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Common Name !! Scientific name!! Year described  !! Distribution
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;"
| ||Greenhorn Mountains slender salamander||''Batrachoseps altasierrae'' ||{{small|Jockusch ''et al.'', 2012}} ||Kern and Tulare counties, California, USA
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
|[[File:Batrachoseps attenuatus - California slender salamander.jpg|120px]] || California slender salamander ||''[[Biology:Batrachoseps attenuatus|Batrachoseps attenuatus]]'' || {{small|Eschscholtz, 1833}}|| Sierra Nevada, California, and northern Central Valley of California, and southwestern Oregon.
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
| ||Fairview slender salamander||''Batrachoseps bramei''||{{small|Jockusch, ''et al.'', 2012}}||California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
| || Inyo Mountains slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps campi|Batrachoseps campi]]'' || {{small|Marlow, Brode & Wake, 1979}} ||  Inyo County of eastern California
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
| || Hell Hollow slender salamander || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps diabolicus|Batrachoseps diabolicus]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998}} || California, in Mariposa County
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;" 
|[[File:Batrachoseps gabrieli.jpg|120px]] || San Gabriel slender salamander || ''Batrachoseps gabrieli'' || {{small|Wake, 1996}} || San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
|[[File:Batrachoseps gavilanensis - Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander 02.jpg|120px]] || Gabilan Mountains slender salamander'' || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps gavilanensis|Batrachoseps gavilanensis]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001}}||    Central Coast region from Santa Cruz to northern Kern County, California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;" 
|[[File:Batrachoseps gregarius.jpg|120px]] || Gregarious slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps gregarius|Batrachoseps gregarius]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998}} ||  western Sierra Nevada and the eastern Central Valley in California
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
| || San Simeon slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps incognitus|Batrachoseps incognitus]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001}} || south-western Monterey and northern San Luis Obispo Counties, California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;" 
|[[File:Batrachoseps kawia.jpg|120px]] || Sequoia slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps kawia|Batrachoseps kawia]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998}} || Tulare County, California
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
|[[File:Batrachoseps luciae.jpg|120px]] || San Lucia Mountains slender salamander || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps luciae|Batrachoseps luciae]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 2001}} || Monterey County, California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;" 
|[[File:Garden Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major).jpg|120px]] ||Garden slender salamander || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps major|Batrachoseps major]]'' || {{small|Camp, 1915}} || northern Baja California in Mexico and Southern California, United States
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;"
| || Lesser slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps minor|Batrachoseps minor]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Yanev & Wake, 1998}} || San Luis Obispo County, California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
|[[File:Batrachoseps nigriventris (Black-bellied Slender Salamander).jpg|120px]] || Black-bellied slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps nigriventris|Batrachoseps nigriventris]]'' || {{small|Cope, 1869}} || California. 
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
|[[File:Channel Islands Slender Salamander - Flickr - GregTheBusker.jpg|120px]] || Pacific slender salamander  || ''Batrachoseps pacificus'' || {{small|(Cope, 1865)}} || Channel Islands of California. 
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
| || King's River slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps regius|Batrachoseps regius]]'' || {{small|Jockusch, Wake & Yanev, 1998}} || Fresno County, California. 
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
| || Relictual slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps relictus|Batrachoseps relictus]]'' || {{small|Brame & Murray, 1968}} || Kern County, California.
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
| || Kern Plateau slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps robustus|Batrachoseps robustus]]'' || {{small|Wake, Yanev & Hansen, 2002}} || Tulare and Inyo, and Kern Counties, California. 
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
| || Kern Canyon slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps simatus|Batrachoseps simatus]]'' || {{small|Brame & Murray, 1968}} || Kern Counties, California. 
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
| || Tehachapi slender salamander  || ''[[Biology:Batrachoseps stebbinsi|Batrachoseps stebbinsi]]'' || {{small|Brame & Murray, 1968}} || Kern Counties, California. 
|-style="background:#FFFDFF;" 
|
|Arguello slender salamander
|''Batrachoseps wakei''
|{{small|Sweet & Jockusch, 2021}}
|Santa Barbara County, California
|-style="background:#EEEEEE;"
|[[File:Batrachoseps wrighti.jpg|120px]] || Oregon slender salamander || ''Batrachoseps wrighti'' || {{small|(Bishop, 1937)}} ||  Oregon,
|-
|}

== See also ==

* [[Biography:Elizabeth Jockusch|Elizabeth Jockusch]] 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
* {{cite web |author=Frost, Darrel R |year=2007 |website=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference |edition=Version 5.1 (10 October 2007) |url=http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/names.php?taxon=&family=&subfamily=&genus=Batrachoseps&commname=&authority=&year=&geo=0&dist=&comment= |title=''Batrachoseps'' |publisher=[[Biology:American Museum of Natural History|American Museum of Natural History]] |location=New York, NY |access-date=July 30, 2008}} Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php [[Biology:American Museum of Natural History|American Museum of Natural History]]. 
* {{cite web |website=AmphibiaWeb |quote=Information on amphibian biology and conservation |year=2008 |location=Berkeley, California |url=http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?query_src=aw_lists_genera_&table=amphib&where-genus=Batrachoseps&where-species= |title=''Batrachoseps'' |access-date=30 July 2008}} AmphibiaWeb is available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. 
* {{cite web |url=http://tolweb.org/supergenus_Batrachoseps/65947 |website=Tree of Life |title=Batrachoseps}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.montereybay.com/creagrus/CABatrachoseps.html |title=A slender salamanders page |website=montereybay.com}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q786876}}

[[Category:Batrachoseps| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Slender salamander}}