Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference

Salamandra quadramaculata Holbrook, 1840, N. Am. Herpetol., 4: 121. Holotype: Specimen figured in pl. 26 of original; ANSP 490 according to Brame, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 160; thought to no longer exist by Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 64. Type locality: ". . . extended in the Atlantic states . . . common in Georgia and Carolina, and is an inhabitant of Pennsylvania", USA; restricted to "Great Smoky Mountains", USA, by Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 32; Valentine, 1974, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 153: 1, noted that this should be construed as the North Carolina, USA, side of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Salamandra maculo-quadrata Holbrook, 1840, N. Am. Herpetol., 4: pl. 28. Alternative original name. See discussion by Adler, 1976, Holbrook’s N. Am. Herpetol.: xl.

Salamandra quadrimaculata — Holbrook, 1842, N. Am. Herpetol., Ed. 2, 5: 49. Spelling error.

Triton nigra — Holbrook, 1842, N. Am. Herpetol., Ed. 2, 5: pl. 27. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Desmognathus niger — Baird, 1850 "1849", J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Ser. 2, 1: 285.

Ambystome quadrimaculatus — Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 109. Incorrect subsequent spelling of Ambystoma and quadramaculatus.

Ambystoma nigrum — Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 105.

Plethodon quadrimaculatus — Hallowell, 1856, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 8: 11.

Desmognathus nigra — Cope, 1869, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 21: 113.

Desmognathus niger — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 79.

Desmognathus quadrimaculata — Stejneger, 1902, Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus., 26: 557.

Desmognathus quadrimaculatus — Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 154.

Desmognathus quadramaculata — Dunn, 1917, Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus., 53: 401.

Desmognathus quadramaculatus amphileucus Bishop, 1941, Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 451: 12. Holotype: UMMZ 89767, by original designation. Type locality: "Demorest, Habersham County, Georgia", USA. Subspecies status rejected by Pope, 1949, Nat. Hist. Misc., 44: 1-4. See also Neill, 1948, Copeia, 1948: 218, who redefined the race.

Desmognathus quadramaculatus quadramaculatus — Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 210.

Desmognathus quadramaculatus amphileucus — Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 214.

English Names

Mountain Triton (Desmognathus quadramaculatus: Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 154).

Black-bellied Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus quadramaculatus: Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 210).

White-headed Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus amphileucus: Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 214).

Black-bellied Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus: Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 30; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 174; Conant, 1975, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am., Ed. 2: 266; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 21; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 16; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 26).

Blackbelly Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus: Collins, Huheey, Knight, and Smith, 1978, Herpetol. Circ., 7:5; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 31 Collins, 1997, Herpetol. Circ., 25: 6).

Common Blackbelly Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus: Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 12).

Distribution

From Monroe County, West Virginia eastward to Henry County, Virginia, and southward through easterhn Tennessee, western North and South Carolina to northeastern Georgia, in the Appalachian Mountains, USA.

Comment

Reviewed by Valentine, 1974, Cat. Am. Amph. Rept., 153: 1-4. Rissler and Taylor, 2003, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 27: 197-211, presented molecular evidence that suggests that this nominal species is a composite of cryptic species, forming a paraphyletic series with respect to Desmognathus marmoratus. Beachy and Bruce, 2003, Amphibia-Reptilia, 24: 13-26, reported on a miniturized populations in the Bald Mountains of North Carolina, USA. Jones, Voss, Ptacek, Weisrock, and Tonkyn, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 38: 280-287, and Wooten and Rissler, 2011, Acta Herpetol., Firenze, 6: 175-208, suggested that neither Desmognathus marmoratus nor Desmognathus quadramaculatus are monophyletic, instead being composed of multiple inter-related lineages.

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