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Dicamptodon Tenebrosus pictures :D

sde

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Is there any Dicamptodon enthusiasts anymore??? seems like there are none. Anyway I will share some photos. If you want more info just ask :happy:. Enjoy!!! :D -Seth
 

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Chinadog

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So is that animal living aquatically without gills or is it in the process of morphing? I've only seen a few pictures of terrestrial adults that look a bit like tiger salamanders.
 

sde

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Your welcome guys!
Chinadog,
The ones that are lighter brown with some mottling are terrestrial but the ones that are darker and solid brown are larvae. the pic of the one in the stream is a quit small larvae. Dicamptodon are similar to tiger salamanders but are limited to western coast regions of the united states. Dicamptodon are debatably the larges terrestrial species in the world, so it was quit a privilege to find the two terrestrial adult females, both of which were 11 inches long! Unfortunately it is illegal to keep Dicamptodon where I live.
Also some may become reproductively mature and still stay in the larvae stage, this is called neotony. In fact it is more common to find the neotones than the terrestrial adults. I was lucky enough to find these two terrestrial females guarding there eggs in the well that we get our water from! Thanks for the comments guys, I'm actually kind of surprised that so many people replied because it seems like nobody likes Dicamptodon anymore to be honest. :happy: -Seth
 

otolith

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Great pictures and and excellent herping trip! I've never found more than a single adult at a time. I mostly find D. ensatus where I herp and am lucky enough to have pretty large populations right near my home (and sometimes in our woodpile). Neotenic adults are much less common here than in the PNW as many of the creeks dry up in summer. Thanks for posting!
 

John

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I have 3 Dicamptodon tenebrosus. 1 Terrestrial adult I adopted from another Caudata.org member and 2 paedomorphic adults I collected as larvae in California in 2012. All are 10 inches/25 cm + in size. I find tigers tend to grow longer but the Dicamptodon are more ruggedly built with much bigger heads. And they have biting teeth - ouch!
 

sde

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Yah all of these were caught with in a mile of my house, so with in biking distance. Yes like I said it is debatable which one is bigger, I personally think that Dicamptodon are bigger from what I have read. Also the two terrestrials are actually different individuals, I think they were sisters because they were almost identical. Both 11 inches. Both brown with a little mottling. -Seth
 
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