Critically Endangered
Shenandoah Salamander
Plethodon shenandoah
The Shenandoah salamander is a small, terrestrial salamander found exclusively in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
Appearance
The species has two distinct color phases: striped and unstriped. The striped color phase has a narrow stripe down the center of its back that can range in color from red to yellow, while the unstriped color phase is uniformly dark with occasional scattered brass-colored flecks. In both color phases, white or yellow spots occur along the sides of the body.
The adult Shenandoah salamander is slender and moderate in size, with a total length of 3.5 to 4.5 inches (7 cm - 10 cm).
Range and habitat
Currently, Shenandoah salamanders are exclusively found on the north-facing talus slopes of three mountains within the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia: Hawksbill, The Pinnacles, and Stony Man (see range map). The talus slopes are typically dry, so the Shenandoah salamander is generally found within moist microhabitats scattered throughout the talus environment. Although the dry talus slopes are not optimal, the Shenandoah salamander is excluded from optimal forested areas containing deep, moist soil due to competition with the red-backed salamander.
Mitigating human effects on the habitat of the species will be essential in attempting to preserve and grow the population.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Like many salamanders, the breeding season for the Shenandoah salamander occurs during late spring or summer. Female salamanders do not breed prior to 4 years of age and lay an average clutch size of 13 eggs every other year.
Fertilization occurs internally and the entire developmental process takes place within the egg—there is no aquatic larval stage. For the duration of the incubation period, females guard the nest and do not forage.
In crisis
Due to the small habitat range, interspecies competition, and climate change, the population of the Shenandoah salamander is vulnerable to extinction. Based on data from 2008/2009 there was a population estimate between 110,262 and 140,625, but current population trends and estimates cannot be established until surveys with marked animals are conducted. Fish and Wildlife Service categorized the Shenandoah salamander as a "Category 2" in its Review of Vertebrate Wildlife for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species.
Because of this competition, it would not be advisable to attempt to increase population numbers, transplant individuals, or reduce naturally occurring competitors. Attempts to repopulate the salamander on talus areas between or adjacent to known populations would be unfeasible, costly, and unnecessary.
Salamanders disappear when seeps are capped, caves are disturbed, or a pathogen moves through a mountain range.
Shenandoah Salamander is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Shenandoah Salamander, Wikidata item Q2276511. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
