coastal giant salamander
{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Coastal giant salamander
| image = Dicamptodon tenebrosus 2.JPG
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Dicamptodon tenebrosus
| authority = (Baird and Girard, 1852)
| synonyms = Amblystoma tenebrosum Baird and Girard, 1852
}}
File:D tenebrosus next to 120mm flashlight.jpg
The coastal giant salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) is a species of salamander in the genus Dicamptodon (Pacific giant salamanders). It is endemic to the Pacific Northwest of North America.{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Caudata/Ambystomatidae/Dicamptodon/Dicamptodon-tenebrosus |title=Dicamptodon tenebrosus (Baird and Girard, 1852) |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2015 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=22 September 2015}} There are three closely related species to this taxon: D. ensatus (California giant salamander), D. copei (Cope's giant salamander), and D. aterrimus (Idaho giant salamander).{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Caudata/Ambystomatidae/Dicamptodon |title=Dicamptodon Strauch, 1870 |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2015 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=22 September 2015}}
Description
The coastal giant salamander can reach up to {{convert|33|cm|abbr=on}} in total length as a terrestrial adult, and {{convert|35.5|cm|abbr=on}} in paedomorphic forms,[https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/journals/pnw_2015_foster001.pdf A Review of the Biology and Conservation of the Cope’s Giant Salamander, Dicamptodon copei Nussbaum, 1970 (Amphibia: Caudata: Dicamptodontidae) in the Pacific Northwestern Region of the USA] making it the largest terrestrial salamander in North America.{{cite web
| title = Dicamptodon tenebrosus - Coastal Giant Salamander
| url = http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/d.tenebrosus.html
| access-date = 2009-04-16}} The coastal giant salamander has stout limbs with four toes on the front feet and five toes on the back feet. The species tail is around 40 percent of the total length of the salamander and is laterally compressed. The head, back, and sides have a marbled or reticulate pattern of dark blotches on a light brown or brassy-colored background. The head is broad with a shovel-like snout and a fold of skin across the throat called the gular fold. The eyes are medium in size and have a brass-flecked iris and a large black pupil. This species is one of the few salamanders capable of vocalizing.{{cite web
|url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=42744
|title=California Giant Salamander: Dicamptodon ensatus
|author=C. Michael Hogan
|year=2008
|editor=Nicklas Stromberg
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130123737/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=42744
|archive-date=2009-01-30
}}
= Life history =
A female coastal giant salamander will lay her eggs in moderate to slow flowing mountain streams under rocks and crevasses, hatching in early to mid spring. The coastal giant salamander, being a member of the genus Dicamptodon, exhibits two distinctive phases within its life; an aquatic larval stage with filamentous gills and an elongated tail with a caudal fin (similar to that of a tadpole), and a terrestrial adult form losing their caudal fin and filamentous gills, and instead developing robust legs and a pair of internal lungs.{{cite web|title=Coastal Giant Salamander - Dicamptodon tenebrosus|url=http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/d.tenebrosus.html|website=CaliforniaHerps|access-date=8 May 2018}}
=Neoteny=
Some coastal giant salamander larvae continue to grow into adults and become sexually mature without losing their external gills. This process is called neoteny. Neoteny is particularly common in the British Columbia populations. Adult-sized neotenes have a uniform brown coloring on their heads, sides, and backs.
Behavior
= Activity level =
= Foraging and diet =
Adult coastal giant salamanders, like most of the genus Dicamptodon, are opportunistic feeders feeding on anything they can fit in their mouth. This may include, but is not limited to; slugs, insects, worms and other invertebrates as well as small vertebrates such as small rodents, snakes, and other giant salamanders. In the larval stage, coastal giant salamanders will feed on small macroinvertebrates such as insect larvae as well as small fish and mollusks. Both adult and larval coastal salamanders have been recorded consuming other individuals of the same species.
= Defense =
Range
The coastal giant salamander is endemic to the Pacific Northwest, found in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia.
Habitat
Conservation
Pacific giant salamanders are protected from being killed or collected under the Wildlife Act in British Columbia.{{cite web
| author = Donald A. Blood
| title = Pacific Giant Salamander
| date = 1 Mar 1993
| publisher = Province of British Columbia Ministry of Environment
| access-date = 22 September 2015
| url = http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/salamander.pdf}}