PETITION TO LIST THE JEMEZ MOUNTAINS SALAMANDER ...

WildEarth Guardians Petition to List
Jemez Mountains Salamander Under the ESA
7
Description
Coloring
Degenhardt et al. (1996) describe the Jemez Mountains salamander’s coloring as:
.. uniformly dark brown above, with occasional fine gold stippling
dorsally. The venter is sooty gray, being lighter on the chin and on the
underside of the tail.
The only similar species in New Mexico is the Sacramento Mountain salamander
(Aneides hardii). The two species are easily distinguished based on geography. The
Sacramento Mountain salamander is restricted to high elevations in the Capitan, White
and Sacramento Mountains in south-central New Mexico (Otero and Lincoln Counties) at
elevations of 9000 ft (2743 m). In contrast, the Jemez Mountains salamander is only
found within portions of the Jemez Mountains range in north-central New Mexico
(Sandoval, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos Counties) at elevations above 7,200 ft (2900 m)
(Degenhardt et al. 1996).
Lengths
The average length of 296 specimens collected between 1992 and 1994, was 82.3 mm
(30.9 – 134.4 mm) (Degenhardt et al. 1996). About half of the Jemez Mountains
salamander’s length consists of its tail (NMDGF 1988).
Dimorphism
Females are larger than males at sexual maturity. Sexually mature males average 55.2
mm snout-vent-length (SVL) (47-63mm) while sexually mature females average 56.2
mm SVL (49-67 mm). In sexually mature males, the head may be slightly wider than the
body. The mental glands of males are not evident (Degenhardt et al. 1996). Juveniles
are aquatic with gills.
Distinctive traits
The body is long and slender with 18-20 costal grooves, with 7.5-8.5 costal grooves
between the toe tips of adpressed limbs. Over 50% of specimens have four phalanges,
with the fifth being much reduced, projecting just slightly beyond the foot (Brodie and
Altig 1967; Degenhardt et al. 1996).
Range distinctions
The Jemez Mountains salamander’s range is restricted to the Jemez Mountains range in
north-central New Mexico (Figure 1). The salamander has only been found in portions of
Los Alamos, Sandoval, and Rio Arriba Counties (Degenhardt et al. 1996). In the
mountains of these counties, the Jemez Mountains salamander exists in six fragmented