While at the World Herp Congress in Vancouver this year I was able to sneak away to a secluded corner of the UBC campus, where I was lucky enough to flip an individual of this beautiful, if somewhat enigmatic species. While many scientists agree that the Ensatina salamanders form a single species, this is the result of years of discussion and heated debate. The source of the confusion is that while members of this species can (usually) freely interbreed with their neighbors, the distribution of the species forms a great arc around the Central Valley in California and at the southern edge the east and west forms coexist without much (if any) swapping of genetic material. To complicate matters further, this species is highly variable, with the northern forms looking like the individual I discovered, while some of the southern forms take on the appearance of syntopic (found at the same locality) toxic newts or bright splotches of color that break up their salamander-esque outline on the forest floor. In summary, this salamander is absolutely fascinating. I hope to find more in the future.
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