TAXONOMIC REVISION OF DESMOGNATHUS WRIGHTI (CAUDATA: PLETHODONTIDAE)
2010. Herpetologica 66(3): 283-295
Erica J. Crespi, Robert A. Browne & Leslie J. Rissler
Abstract: We revise the taxonomic status of Desmognathus wrighti, which occurs in the southern
Appalachians of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwest Virginia, USA, based on a
combination of genetic, ecological, and morphometric analyses. Previously, we reported fixed differences in
allozymic loci and mitochondrial DNA sequences between lineages geographically divided by the French
Broad River basin at the level of species divergence. Here, we show that these two lineages also differ in
ventral pigmentation and several measures of body size, including snout–vent length, body condition, and
head width. In addition, spatially explicit ecological-niche analyses of climate at more than 400 collection
localities spanning the range of D. wrighti indicate that the lineages separated by the French Broad River are
in unique environmental niche space. Ecological niche models resolved that population localities north of the
river were generally colder and drier than localities to the south, which suggests that divergent selection
pressures may exist, in addition to isolation by distance, to drive the diversification of these two lineages. The
name Desmognathus wrighti (King, 1936), for which the type locality is Mt. LeConte within the Great Smoky
Mountains, Tennessee, was retained for all populations south and west of the French Broad River, while the
name D. organi, with type locality at Whitetop Mountain, Virginia, was given to those populations north and
east of the river.
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A pdf of this article is available from the CNAH PDF Library at
http://www.cnah.org/cnah_pdf.asp
A color image of this new salamander may be viewed at
http://www.cnah.org/detail.asp?id=1409
2010. Herpetologica 66(3): 283-295
Erica J. Crespi, Robert A. Browne & Leslie J. Rissler
Abstract: We revise the taxonomic status of Desmognathus wrighti, which occurs in the southern
Appalachians of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwest Virginia, USA, based on a
combination of genetic, ecological, and morphometric analyses. Previously, we reported fixed differences in
allozymic loci and mitochondrial DNA sequences between lineages geographically divided by the French
Broad River basin at the level of species divergence. Here, we show that these two lineages also differ in
ventral pigmentation and several measures of body size, including snout–vent length, body condition, and
head width. In addition, spatially explicit ecological-niche analyses of climate at more than 400 collection
localities spanning the range of D. wrighti indicate that the lineages separated by the French Broad River are
in unique environmental niche space. Ecological niche models resolved that population localities north of the
river were generally colder and drier than localities to the south, which suggests that divergent selection
pressures may exist, in addition to isolation by distance, to drive the diversification of these two lineages. The
name Desmognathus wrighti (King, 1936), for which the type locality is Mt. LeConte within the Great Smoky
Mountains, Tennessee, was retained for all populations south and west of the French Broad River, while the
name D. organi, with type locality at Whitetop Mountain, Virginia, was given to those populations north and
east of the river.
*****
A pdf of this article is available from the CNAH PDF Library at
http://www.cnah.org/cnah_pdf.asp
A color image of this new salamander may be viewed at
http://www.cnah.org/detail.asp?id=1409