New Salamander Species Discovered in Arkansas
Posted on April 16, 2014
Researchers from the University of Tulsa (TU) have discovered a new salamander species in Arkansas. The new salamander, Eurycea subfluvicola, resides in a stream in Lake Catherine State Park near Hot Springs, Ark. The salamander has the common name of Ouachita Streambed Salamander. It was first discovered by TU doctoral student Michael Steffen and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Herpetologist Kelly Irwin in 2011.
The newly discovered salamander retains its aquatic larval juvenile characteristic into adulthood. The researchers say it has the smallest known range of any other amphibian in the U.S.
Steffen says in the announcement, "We found a large amount of genetic divergence between this specimen and other salamanders."
A research paper on the new salamander was published here in Zootaxa. The full paper can be found here (PDF).