Black-bellied slender salamander

Black-bellied slender salamander
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Family:	Plethodontidae
Genus:	Batrachoseps
Species:	B. nigriventris
Binomial name
	Batrachoseps nigriventris; Cope, 1869

The black-bellied slender salamander (Batrachoseps nigriventris) is a small species of salamander that is endemic to California.

Distribution

This salamander prefers California chaparral and woodlands habitats of Coast live oak - Quercus agrifolia and California sycamore - Platanus racemosa.

Description

The black-bellied slender salamander is about 3.1 to 4.3 cm long. It has a worm-like body, a small head and small limbs, and a long cylindrical tail, often twice the length of its body.

The black-bellied slender salamander can have a black, tan, reddish, brown or beige dorsum often with a contrasting broad mid-dorsal stripe of similar colors. It has a purplish or black venter with fine light speckling over the entire surface.

This species will coil its body and tail when handled; it is fragile and easily injured. Batrachoseps nigriventis looks similar to the related species Batrachoseps pacificus and Batrachoseps gabrieli.

gollark: I don't think it's a particularly problematic problem which needs an explicit rule written for it or something.

gollark: Never underestimate the sheer weirdness of people on the internet.

gollark: I mean, it contains the maybe-TOS-violating thing.

gollark: Hyperbolic geometry: very cool.

gollark: They might actually have less, since the government is bound by laws to provide loans or whatever subject to some fixed constraints, and people will probably complain if the government says "no, we're not paying for this thing".

References

Hammerson (2004). "Batrachoseps nigriventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2006.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern
This article is based on a description from "A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Coastal Southern California", Robert N. Fisher and Ted J. Case, USGS, http://www.werc.usgs.gov/fieldguide/index.htm.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.