Plethodon shermani Stejneger, 1906

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Plethodontinae > Genus: Plethodon > Species: Plethodon shermani

Plethodon shermani Stejneger, 1906, Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus., 30: 559. Holotype: USNM 36214 according to Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 21. Type locality: "Nantahala Mountain, between Andrews and Aquone", North Carolina, USA. Corrected to east of Wayah Gap, Macon County, North Carolina, USA, by Brimley, 1912, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 25: 135-140; corrected to "Wayah Bald Mt., in Nantahala Range between Franklin and Aquone, N[orth]. C[arolina].", USA by Dunn, 1926, Salamanders Fam. Plethodontidae: 146. See comment by Tighe, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 654: 52.

Plethodon glutinosus shermaniBishop, 1941, Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 451: 18.

Plethodon shermani shermaniPope and Hairston, 1948, Copeia, 1948: 106.

Plethodon jordani shermaniHairston, 1950, Copeia, 1950: 271.

Plethodon (Plethodon) shermaniVieites, Nieto-Roman, Wake, and Wake, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 59: 632, by implication.

English Names

Sherman Salamander (Brimley, 1907, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 23: 154).

Red-legged Salamander (Brimley, 1915, J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 30: 5; Bishop, 1943, Handb. Salamanders: 253; Schmidt, 1953, Check List N. Am. Amph. Rept., Ed. 6: 35-36; Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert, 1956, Copeia, 1956: 175; Highton and Peabody, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 62; Crother, Boundy, Campbell, de Queiroz, Frost, Highton, Iverson, Meylan, Reeder, Seidel, Sites, Taggart, Tilley, and Wake, 2001 "2000", Herpetol. Circ., 29: 28; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 21; Collins and Taggart, 2009, Standard Common Curr. Sci. Names N. Am. Amph. Turtles Rept. Crocodil., ed. 6: 14; Tilley, Highton, and Wake, 2012, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 39: 30; Highton, Bonett, and Jockusch, 2017, in Crother (ed.), Herpetol. Circ., 43: 32).

Distribution

Isolated populations in extreme southwestern North Carolina and adjacent southeastern Tennessee and northern Georgia, USA, 853–1494 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: United States of America, United States of America - Georgia, United States of America - North Carolina, United States of America - Tennessee

Endemic: United States of America

Comment

Removed from the synonymy of Plethodon jordani by Highton and Peabody, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 62, where it had been placed by Hairston, 1950, Copeia, 1950: 271. In the Plethodon glutinosus group, Plethodon jordani complex. Graham, Timpe, and Giovanetto, 2008, Herpetol. Rev., 38: 494–495, provided the first record for Georgia (Towns County), USA. Beamer and Lannoo, 2005, in Lannoo (ed.), Amph. Declines: 841–842, provided a detailed account that summarized the biology and conservation literature. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 585. Moskwik, 2014, J. Biogeograph., 41: 1957–1966, documented in this species significant elevational range changes since the 1940s. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 403, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 930–931, 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.