Genetics of jeffersonianum/laterale complex...

I am getting ready to becoming a grad student and was wondering if any of the sally experts on the forum have any advice on where I should begin to look for currently accepting findings on the jeffersonianum/laterale complex. I know there is a triploid form, which I believe I encountered this past summer in northern Wisconsin. They were distinctly different from the A. laterale I found farther south. Anyway, this is just one of the investigative projects I'd like to begin working on and some background research is in order. I would appreciate it if anybody with any knowledge of journal articles on this topic could let me know where to get reprints of those.

Also, any personal experience with this would be of interest. Anyone wishing to hear my experiences feel free to email me.

candice novitzke (haven't yet received my registered username confirmation)

Hi Candice,
There is a pretty good summary of the information in Petranka's Salamanders of the United States and Canada that will give you a good head start.
This complex is very interesting because most of the known hybridization occured a long time ago. I'll try to post some more later on the various hybrid crosses (as they can be more than one way) but tis time to get back to work.
Ed

[Megan Wright]

This is not a very bright question, please forgive me, but I am curious to know if anyone knows of anyone - individual, lab, museum, Un}iversity or other facility - who is studying/propagating the triploid members of this complex (A. platineum & A. tremblayi)in captivity?

one book to look at is 'the salamanders of ohio" it is out of print but you may find a copy through a library system. this also has an over view of the complexes

actually there are multiple variations of the hybrid complex some of which apparently also hybridized with tigrinum at some point in the distant past (but all are morphologically the same). If you want a good overview of all the different combinations check out Petranka's Salamanders of the United States and Canada.
There is also a goob bibliography there which would give you a start to see if any research is being done with the various hybrids.
I suspect that there isn't any captive reproduction being worked on at this time.

Ed

I've been wondering how common these hybrids are supposed to be. I live in Michigan, and have found many A. laterale, but I have also found quite a few that were an inch or more longer than any of the accepted sizes for A. Laterale. I believe that up to 25% of the A. Laterale that I have encountered were this size. I often find these larger ones with the standard blue-spotteds, and it is an obvious size difference when you compare them. I have always assumed that these had to be one of the hybrids.
Sorry I have no pictures, and havent seen any like this in a couple of years (I wasnt as interested in the details then) so I didnt pay enough attention to the small details that may have helped distinguish them.

there are also some hybrids in the region that include texanum FWIW

i would try google scholar with any scienntific inquiry. it is actually a darn good science engine for all types of articles, from which you can gleam off what you would no.. second time i am plugging for google scholar..w eeee

you think these Ambystoma are crazy, take a look at the genus Bufo LOL.

One of the things that's really interesting to me about these Ambystoma hybrids is that the bulk of this hybridization occurs as a regional phenomenon in the Great Lakes region. Some of these species (texanum/tigrinum) occur sympatrically elsewhere with little or no evidence of hybridization (e.g. East Texas).

Troy

To the best of my knowledge, Bufo don't do the tetraploid hybrid thing . . . however, hybridization is a common phenomenon (if not well documented) in the Bufo americananus/woodhousei/fowleri complex, particularly in the SE (e.g. "Bufo velatus" the "East Texas Toad" and similar varieties across the SE . . .
I've also caught quite a few obviously hybrid B. woodhousei x B. valliceps(nebulifer) here in TX

Much of this based on discussions with Jim Dixon and Jon Campbell . . .

But by now we've drifted far afield from the discussion of Ambystoma . . . LOL

Troy

Some populations of the Bufo viridis complex consist of tetraploid individuals...