I feel like, in general, salamanders get the short end of the stick as far as popularity, even in the herper community. It could be because they're largely fossorial and out of sight. They're poorly understood, even in the scientific community as compared to their more saltational cousins. With the recent publicity about American salamanders being threatened with chytrid found in Europe, I feel like drawing attention to the incredible diversity of salamanders in the U.S. is even more important. And given that the U.S. is the world leader for salamander diversity, I feel like that has to be celebrated.
I was hoping to hit 50 species for the year which would be over 25% of the salamanders found in the U.S. and a respectable number for a year on limited funds and time. Unfortunately, I was not able to hit that, but did manage to get 36 species for the year, which is still a respectable number, but in doing so, I've decided that I want to extend this project to a multi-year project and see if I can photograph all 189 species of U.S. salamander. That may be a tall order given the rarity and protection of some species, but it's worth a shot! This year, I hit the southern Appalachians twice this year and a brief stint in the Pacific Northwest. Next year, hopefully, I'll be able to hit the Appalachians again and the Ozarks. Hopefully, at some point, I can get out to California and get the sallies there (in particular, I'd really love to get all of the Ensatina subspecies).
A friend of mine created a composite that I liked since they were great for diagnostic purposes, so I'm replicating that here. The maps come from AmphibiaWeb (From Laura Blackburn, Priya Nanjappa, and Michael J. Lannoo (2001) US Amphibian Dist. Maps (http://home.bsu.edu/home/00mjlannoo/)). So without further ado, here's what I found this year. And don't worry, those who don't like the white backgrounds, I have taken a few of habitat shots
Stay tuned for next year to see the additions!
