Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides, the Big Mouth Cave salamander, a lungless salamander, is a subspecies of the Tennessee cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus). The Big Mouth Cave salamander lives in Big Mouth Cave and other caves in the Elk River drainage basin in Grundy County and Coffee County, Tennessee. The salamander was first described by Lazell and Brandon in 1962.[2]
| Big Mouth Cave salamander | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Plethodontidae |
| Genus: | Gyrinophilus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | G. p. necturoides
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| Trinomial name | |
| Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides Lazell and Brandon, 1962
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Conservation status
editWhile the TNC rates the Big Mouth Cave salamander as "critically imperiled",[1] IUCN claims it is only "vulnerable".[3] A study in 2007 by Brian T. Miller and Matthew L. Niemiller investigated the actual population size of the subspecies. They determined that the subspecies was actually abundant in Big Mouth Cave and other caves, contrary to popular concern.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Lazell, J. D.; R. A. Brandon (1962). "A new stygian salamander from the Southern Cumberland Plateau". Copeia. 1962 (2): 300–306. doi:10.2307/1440894. JSTOR 1440894.
- ^ Geoffrey Hammerson; Christopher Beachy (2004). "Gyrinophilus palleucus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T59281A11896704. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T59281A11896704.en. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Miller, Brian T.; Matthew L. Niemiller (December 2007). "DISTRIBUTION AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF TENNESSEE CAVE SALAMANDERS" (PDF). Herpetological Conservation and Biology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
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