Dwarf salamander

The dwarf salamander (Eurycea quadridigitata) is a species of salamander native to the southern United States, from North Carolina to Oklahoma, south to Texas along the Gulf of Mexico states to northern Florida. Some sources refer to it as the four-fingered manculus, dwarf four-toed salamander, or the Florida dwarf salamander.[1][2][3][4]

Dwarf salamander
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Plethodontidae
Genus: Eurycea
Species:
E. quadridigitata
Binomial name
Eurycea quadridigitata
(Holbrook, 1842)
Synonyms
  • Salamandra quadridigitata Holbrook, 1842
  • Batrachoseps quadridigitata Baird, 1850
  • Manculus quadridigitatus Cope, 1869
  • Manculus remifer Cope, 1871

Taxonomy

A review of E. quadridigitata published in 2017 identified five cryptic species within E. quadridigitata based on molecular evidence.[5]

  • Eurycea chamberlaini Harrison and Guttman, 2003: North Carolina and interior areas of South Carolina
  • Eurycea sphagnicola Wray, Means, and Steppan, 2017: Southern Mississippi, Alabama, and far western Florida panhandle
  • Eurycea hillisi Wray, Means, and Steppan, 2017: interior regions of Alabama and Georgia
  • Eurycea paludicola (Mittleman, 1947): Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas
  • Eurycea quadridigitata (Holbrook, 1842): Florida, coastal areas of Georgia, and South Carolina

Description
Dwarf Salamander (Eurycea quadridigitata) from Polk Co. Texas [= E. paludicola].

The dwarf salamander grows from 2.0 to 3.5 inches in length. It has a slender body and a long tail. It is typically yellow-brown in color with darker brown blotching and dark stripes down each side, but the pattern and coloration can vary widely. The epithet quadridigitatat is to denote that each of its feet has four toes.

Behavior

The dwarf salamander prefers habitats of swampy pine woods. It is nocturnal and spends most of its time under leaf litter or forest floor debris. Breeding occurs in the fall, with 12 to 48 eggs being laid singly or in small clutches attached to submerged debris in shallow, slow moving or still water.

References
  1. Amphibian Species of the World: Eurycea quadridigitata
  2. Herps of Texas: Eurycea quadridigitata
  3. Discover Life: Eurycea quadridigitata
  4. IUCN Red List: Eurycea quadridigitata
  5. Wray, K. P., D. B. Means, and S. J. Steppan. 2017. Revision of the Eurycea quadridigitata (Holbrook 1842) complex of Dwarf Salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliinae) with a description of two new species. Herpetological Monographs 31: 18–46.


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