Spotted Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus conanti Rossman, 1958

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Trogloxene

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from eight counties across three states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama

Jackson, Limestone, Marshall

Georgia

Dade, Walker, Washington

Tennessee

Blount, Cannon

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2023.

NatureServe

G4 Apparently Secure

National ranks

United States

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

North Carolina

S4 Apparently Secure

Mississippi

S5 Secure

Georgia

S5 Secure

Arkansas

SH Possibly Extirpated

Alabama

S5 Secure

Louisiana

S4 Apparently Secure

Illinois

S1 Critically Imperiled

Tennessee

SNR Unranked

Virginia

SNR Unranked

Kentucky

S3 Vulnerable

Florida

S2 Imperiled

Oklahoma

SNR Unranked

Texas

S1 Critically Imperiled

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
• Huntsman, B.M., Venarsky, M.P., Benstead, J.P. & Huryn, A.D. 2011. Effects of organic matter availability on the life history and production of a top vertebrate predator (Plethodontidae: Gyrinophilus palleucus) in two cave streams. Freshwater Biology 56: 1746–1760.
• Niemiller, M.L. & Miller, B.T. 2009. A survey of the cave-associated herpetofauna of the eastern United States with an emphasis on salamanders. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville, Texas, USA, Volume 1: 249–256.
• Niemiller, M.L. & Reeves, W.C. 2014. Predation by the stygophilic crayfish Cambarus tenebrosus on the salamander Pseudotriton ruber within a cave in Cannon County, Tennessee, USA. Speleolobiology Notes 6: 8–13.
• Wallace, R.L. 1984. Biological survey report of Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 33 pp.
• Wallace, R.L. 1990. Biological survey report of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 34 pp.
• Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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