New Species of Salamander Found
by Patricia Collier
A new species of salamander has been found in Tennessee by herpetologists Jennifer A. Anderson and Stephen G. Tilley of Smith College in Massachusetts.
They discovered the salamander in the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Tennessee, and announced their findings in an article entitled "Systematics of the Desmognathus ochrophaeus Complex in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee", published in the fall 2003 issue of Herpetological Monographs.
The new species has been named the Cumberland Dusky Salamander; its scientific name is Desmognathus Abditus. The word abditus is Latin for concealed or secret. Anderson and Tilley chose the name because the salamander has remained hidden for so long.
Salamanders are amphibians and have tails. Dusky salamanders are lungless. They can be found in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, though water is essential to their survival.
Most salamanders are nocturnal and live primarily under rocks and fallen trees. As a species, they are older than dinosaurs.
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
A new species of salamander has been found in Tennessee by herpetologists Jennifer A. Anderson and Stephen G. Tilley of Smith College in Massachusetts.
They discovered the salamander in the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Tennessee, and announced their findings in an article entitled "Systematics of the Desmognathus ochrophaeus Complex in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee", published in the fall 2003 issue of Herpetological Monographs.
The new species has been named the Cumberland Dusky Salamander; its scientific name is Desmognathus Abditus. The word abditus is Latin for concealed or secret. Anderson and Tilley chose the name because the salamander has remained hidden for so long.
Salamanders are amphibians and have tails. Dusky salamanders are lungless. They can be found in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, though water is essential to their survival.
Most salamanders are nocturnal and live primarily under rocks and fallen trees. As a species, they are older than dinosaurs.
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
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