M. Morando
R. Highton
F. Huber
R.E. Jung
J.W. Sites
2004
<p>The Shenandoah salamander (<i>Plethodon shenandoah</i>), known from isolated talus slopes on three of the highest mountains in Shenandoah National Park, is listed as state-endangered in Virginia and federally endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. A 1999 paper by G. R. Thurow described <i>P. shenandoah</i>-like salamanders from three localities further south in the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province, which, if confirmed, would represent a range extension for <i>P. shenandoah</i> of approximately 90 km from its nearest known locality. Samples collected from two of these three localities were included in a molecular phylogenetic study of the known populations of <i>P. shenandoah</i>, and all other recognized species in the <i>Plethodon cinereus</i> group, using a 792 bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Phylogenetic estimates were based on Bayesian, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony methods and topologies examined for placement of the new <i>P. shenandoah</i>-like samples relative to all others. All topologies recovered all haplotypes of the <i>P. shenandoah</i>-like animals nested within <i>P. cinereus</i>, and a statistical comparison of the best likelihood tree topology with one with an enforced (Thurow + Shenandoah <i>P. shenandoah</i>) clade revealed that the unconstrained tree had a significantly lower -In L score (P < 0.05, using the Shimodaira-Hasegawa test) than the constraint tree. This result and other anecdotal information give us no solid reason to consider the Thurow report valid. The current recovery program for <i>P. shenandoah</i> should remain focused on populations in Shenandoah National Park.</p>
application/pdf
10.1670/4-03A
en
BioOne
Phylogenetic relationships of the endangered Shenandoah salamander (Plethodon shenandoah) and other salamanders of the Plethodon cinereus group (Caudata: Plethodontidae)
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