Desmognathus aureatus (Martof, 1956)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Plethodontinae > Genus: Desmognathus > Species: Desmognathus aureatus

Leurognathus marmorata aureata Martof, 1956, Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 575: 2. Holotype: UMMZ 111566, by original designation. Type locality: "Jarrard's Creek, 0.2 of a mile below its crossing of U.S. Route 19, about 9 air miles north-northeast of Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia; 1,550 feet elevation", USA. Status rejected by Martof, 1962, Am. Midl. Nat., 67: 30. See comment. 

Leurognathus marmorata roborata Martof, 1956, Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 575: 4. Holotype: UMMZ 111568, by original designation. Type locality: "Reed Creek, along Burrell Ford Road, 0.5 of a mile from its junction with Glade School Road, about 3.5 miles northwest of Pine Mountain Community, Rabun County, Georgia; 2,350 feet elevation", USA. Status rejected by Martof, 1962, Am. Midl. Nat., 67: 30.

Leurognathus marmoratus aureatusConant, 1958, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am.: 228.

Leurognathus marmoratus roboratus — Conant, 1958, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am.: 228.

Desmognathus aureatus — Jones, Voss, Ptacek, Weisrock, and Tonkyn, 2006, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 38: 285. 

Desmognathus (Leurognathus) aureatus —  Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 145. See comment under Desmognathus regarding the status of the subgenus. 

English Names

Golden Shovel-nosed Salamander (Conant, 1958, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am.: 228). 

Southern Shove-nosed Dusky Salamander (Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 1014).

Husky Shovel-nosed Salamander (Leurognathus marmorata roboratus [no longer recognized]: Conant, 1958, Field Guide Rept. Amph. E. Cent. N. Am.: 228).

Distribution

Chattahoochee, Tallulah, and Chattooga River basins of northeastern Georgia and adjacent South Carolina, USA. (See comment.)

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - South Carolina

Endemic: United States of America

Comment

See comment under Desmognathus marmoratus with which this taxon's history is deeply intertwined. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 432–433, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Pyron, O'Connell, Lemmon, Lemmon, and Beamer, 2022, Ecol. Evol., 12 (2: e8574): 1–38, provided molecular evidence that Desmognathus aureatus (their Desmognathus marmoratus B) is a member of the Desmognathus marmoratus complex. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 1014–1015, provided an account summarizing systematics, morphology, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). 

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.