A New Species of Perennibranchiate Salamander (Eurycea: Plethodontidae) from Austin, Texas
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Publication Date
January 1993
Abstract
A new species of salamander of the genus Eurycea is described from Barton Springs, Austin, Texas, USA. The new species is known only from two hydrologically connected sets of springs in and adjacent to Austin's Barton Springs swimming pool. It is morphologically and biochemically distinct from all known species of plethodontids. The new species is endangered by its limited distribution in an environmentally sensitive ecosystem that is threatened by the direct and indirect impacts of human development, and population sizes appear to have been reduced significantly in the past two decades. Recent efforts to modify maintenance practices at Barton Springs Pool and to protect the Barton Springs Aquifer appear to have reversed this trend, but the species is still in critical danger of extinction.
Keywords
Caudata, Plethodontidae, Hemidactyliini, Eurycea Sosorum, Endangered Species, Texas, Barton Springs
Document Type
Article
Notes
Herpetologica, Vol. 49, no. 2 (1993).
Identifier
SFS0063063_00001
Recommended Citation
Chippindale, Paul T.; Price, Andrew H.; and Hillis, David M., "A New Species of Perennibranchiate Salamander (Eurycea: Plethodontidae) from Austin, Texas" (1993). KIP Articles. 3664.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/3664
