The ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) is a species complex of plethodontid (lungless) salamanders[2] found in coniferous forests, oak woodland and chaparral[3] from British Columbia, through Washington, Oregon, across California (where all seven subspecies variations are located), all the way down to Baja California in Mexico. The genus Ensatina originated approximately 21.5 million years ago.[4] It is usually considered as monospecific, being represented by a single species, Ensatina eschscholtzii, with several subspecies forming a ring species.
| Ensatina | |
|---|---|
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| Monterey Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii eschscholtzii) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Plethodontinae |
| Genus: | Ensatina Gray, 1850 |
| Species: | E. eschscholtzii
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| Binomial name | |
| Ensatina eschscholtzii Gray, 1850
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| Synonyms | |
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Description
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The subspecies Ensatina e. eschscholtzii, the Monterey ensatina, can be found in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties and into the California coastal mountains. With a head-to-tail length of just between 3–5 in (7.6–12.7 cm), E. e. eschecholtzi can be identified primarily by its tail, which is narrower at the base; it is the only subspecies that has such a tail structure, as well as five toes on the hind limbs.
Males often have longer tails than the females, and many of these salamanders have lighter-colored limbs, compared to the rest of the body. The adult females lay eggs underground, often in sets of threes, which hatch directly into fully-formed salamanders, skipping the usual aquatic juvenile phase.
The subspecies Ensatina eschscholtzii klauberi, or the large-blotched ensatina, can be found along the mountain ranges of Southern California, and south into a small region of the Sierra Juarez in northern Baja California.
E. e. klauberi is similar in size to E. e. eschscholtzii; it is mid-sized, with adults growIng a total length of 3–6 in (7.6–15.2 cm). Females tend to have shorter, wider bodies compared to the males. However, this subspecies differs from E. e. eschscholtzii in its coloration—nearly black, with blotches of orange, tail, and dark eyes.[5]
As a ring species
editEnsatina eschscholtzii has been described as a ring species in the mountains surrounding the Californian Central Valley.[2] The complex population forms a horseshoe shape around the mountains, and although interbreeding can happen between each of the 19 populations around said horseshoe, the Ensatina eschscholtzii subspecies on the western end of the horseshoe cannot interbreed with the Ensatina klauberi on the eastern end.[6] As such, it is thought to be an example of incipient speciation, providing an illustration of "nearly all stages in a speciation process" (Dobzhansky, 1958).[2][7] Richard Highton, zoologist, argued that Ensatina is a genus of multiple species and not a continuum of one (meaning, by traditional definitions, it is not a ring species).[8]
Distribution and habitat
editThey are generally thought to be found in high elevations, from 520 to 2400m, in conifer forests and oak woodlands. However, populations were discovered along the coast in Volcán Riveroll, a volcanic area located in Baja California. It is thought that they are able to survive in this anomalous region due to the high moisture that comes in from the coast. It is unclear how these populations were able to end up in this coastal region, but it is hypothesized that “the subspecies was once more broadly distributed and became isolated as a result of climate change during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.” [9] If this is true, then it is estimated that Ensatina klauberi has been living in this region for thousands of years.
Relationships with humans
editEnsatina can usually be found under logs or brush, by or in streams and lakes, and in other moist places. They are easily distressed by improper handling, because they rely on cutaneous respiration, their thin skin is very sensitive to heating, drying and exposure to chemicals from warm hands. They may exude a sticky milky secretion from the tail.[10]
Subspecies
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- Yellow-blotched ensatina — E. e. croceater (Cope, 1868)
- Monterey ensatina — E. e. eschscholtzii Gray, 1850
- Large-blotched ensatina — E. e. klauberi Dunn, 1929
- Oregon ensatina — E. e. oregonensis (Girard, 1856)
- Painted ensatina — E. e. picta Wood, 1940
- Sierra Nevada ensatina — E. e. platensis (Jiménez de la Espada, 1875)
- Yellow-eyed ensatina — E. e. xanthoptica Stebbins, 1949
References
edit- ^ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2022). "Ensatina eschscholtzii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T59260A196339088. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T59260A196339088.en. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ a b c Wake, D. (1997). "Incipient species formation in salamanders of the Ensatina complex". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 94 (15): 7761-7767. Bibcode:1997PNAS...94.7761W. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.15.7761. PMC 33701. PMID 9223261.
- ^ Monterey Ensatina San Diego Field Station, United States Geological Survey Viewed: April 24, 2005, Last updated: March 05, 2003[permanent dead link]
- ^ Carl T. Bergstrom; Lee Alan Dugatkin (2012). Evolution. Norton. p. 468. ISBN 978-0-393-92592-0.
- ^ Grismer, L. Lee (2019-12-31). Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés. University of California Press. doi:10.1525/9780520925205. ISBN 978-0-520-92520-5.
- ^ Dawkins, R. (2004). "Ring Species (The Salamander's Tale)". The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-00583-8.[page needed]
- ^ Dobzhansky T. (1958). Barnett S A (ed.). A Century of Darwin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press. pp. 19–55.
- ^ Highton, Richard (June 1998). "Is Ensatina eschscholtzii a Ring-Species?". Herpetologica. 54 (2): 254–278. JSTOR 3893431.
- ^ Valdez-Villavicencio, Jorge Heriberto; Peralta-Garcia, Anny; Hollingsworth, Bradford Damion (2015-05-01). "A coastal population of Large-blotched Ensatina Ensatina klauberi (Caudata: Plethodontidae) in Baja California, México". Check List. 11 (3): 1649. doi:10.15560/11.3.1649. ISSN 1809-127X.
- ^ Kuchta, Shawn R (April 2008). "Why does the yellow-eyed Ensatina have yellow eyes? Batesian mimicry of Pacific newts (genus Taricha) by the salamander Esatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica". Evolution. 62 (4): 984–990. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00338.x. PMID 18248632. S2CID 998486.
External links
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Data related to Ensatina at Wikispecies
Media related to Ensatina eschscholtzii at Wikimedia Commons- Ensatina Salamander page at Santa Rosa Junior College Department of Life Sciences
- Ensatina Salamander page at AmphibiaWeb
