Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference

Triton ensatus Eschscholtz, 1833, Zool. Atlas, Part 5: 6. Type(s): Not known to exist, but thought by Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept.: 11, to be either in Dorpat (presumably now Estonian National Museum in Tartu, Estonia) or Rostock (Rostock University in Germany). Type locality: "Umbegung der Bai St. Francisco auf Californien" (= vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco, California), USA; "probably near Fort Ross, Sonoma County", California, USA, according to Nussbaum, 1976, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 149: 4.

Plethodon ensatus — Cope, 1868 "1867", Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 19: 167. In error, based on specimens of Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis according to A.H. Brame (personal communication).

Dicamptodon ensatus — Strauch, 1870, Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg, Ser. 7, 16 (4): 69. Van Denburgh, 1916, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 6: 221; Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 175.

Ambystoma ensatum — Grinnell and Camp, 1917, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 17: 139.

English Names

Eschscholtz's Lizard (Yarrow, 1882, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 24: 21).

Marbled Salamander (Storer, 1925, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 27: 42).

Pacific Giant Salamander (Slevin, 1928, Occas. Pap. California Acad. Sci., 16: 36; Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 175; Stebbins, 1951, Amph. W. North Am.: 49; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 16; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Stebbins, 1966, Field Guide W. North Am. Rept. Amph.: 36; Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7: 5).

California Giant Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28; Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 6; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 21; Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 158; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2008, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 37: 17; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 10).

Distribution

The Pacific coast and adjacent mountain ranges in California, from southern Mendocino County to southern Santa Cruz County, 0-900 m elevation, USA.

Comment

Reviewed by Anderson, 1969, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 76: 1-2 (this review written prior to the description of Dicamptodon copei or the resurrection of Dicamptodon aterrimus and Dicamptodon tenebrosus). See also Nussbaum, 1976, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 149: 1-94, and Good, 1989, Evolution, 43: 728-744. See comment under Dicamptodon tenebrosus. Stebbins, 2003, Field Guide W. Rept. Amph., Ed. 3: 158-159, provided a brief account, figure, and map, and noted a zone of hybridization with Dicampton copei in Mendocine County, California, USA. See statement of geographic range, habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 637.

External Links

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.

• For additional sources of information from other sites search Google
• For images search Arkive, CalPhoto Images and Google Images
• To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
• For information aggregation from other sites and some original accounts see AmphibiaWeb report
• For further information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observation see iNaturalist;
• for a quick link to their maps see iNaturalist KML