Barton Springs Salamander

November 21, 2008 Devan Neal

BA RT O N S P R I N GS SALA M A N DE R Kingdom

Class

Order

Family

Animalia

Amphibia - cold-blooded, and

Caudata- Many salamanders

Plethodontidae

Phylum

unlike other land animals

have a biphasic life that

Genus

Chordata - All chordates are

amphibians lay eggs in the

transforms from an aquatic

Eurycea

united by having a notochord, a

water

larval stage to a terrestrial adult

dorsal nose chord, pharyngeal

stage

Species Eurycea sosorum

slits, an edostyle and a postanal tail

BARTON SPRINGS SALAMANDER

photo from Wikipedia

Unique tiny salamander from Austin, Texas is endangered! The Barton Springs Salamander’s only habitat is in Barton Springs in Austin, Texas. It can be connected closely to the Salado Salamander and the Southern Two-Lined Salamander. It feeds on amphipods, earthworms, and brine shrimp. It is thought to be mostly a surface dweller, but it is able to live underground. What's unique about these salamanders is that they are neotenic--they do not metamorphose into a terrestrial adult stage. Resulting in the Barton Springs Salamanders staying aquatic their entire lives. They have larval characteristics such as external gill structures, and they never lose those gills structures. They never develop

The Barton Springs Salamander is very petite. Adults only grow to be 2.5 inches in total length.

lungs. It was put on the federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species in 1997. The salamander being listed prevents the City of Austin from cleaning the pool as it

References:

has for 70 years: with high-pressure water and bleach, which can be fatal to

http://

salamanders. Not many details are known on how reproduction takes place, however, recently many females have hatched eggs. It is

upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/a/a9/ BartonSpringsSalamander.jpeg http://

known that females carry their eggs for a year before depositing them.

One of the largest threats to the

salamanders would be the degradation of

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Barton_Springs_Salamander< This is due to urban development and pesticide ref> water quality and quantity in Barton Springs.

contamination; increased UVB radiation; acid rain; and disease. Mrs. Wolfgang • Academic Biology • Period 3 •