Cope's Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon copei)
Description: This species can attain lengths up to 19.5 centimeters. It exhibits neoteny rarely undergoing metamorphosis to the adult form, and resembles the larvae of similar salamander species. It usually becomes sexually, but not physically, mature. It is gold and brown in color. The costal grooves are inconspicuous. It has a rounded snout and the laterally compressed, fin-like tail of a typical larva. It retains its gills.
Habitat: Little is known about the species' habitat requirements, but it has been found in mountain pools and streams.
Range: The range of this species extends from the Olympic Peninsula to northern Oregon.
Found in these States:
OR |
WA
Diet: It feeds on smaller animals, such as fish, amphibians and their eggs, including the larvae of its own species.
Reproduction: The female lays a clutch of around 50 and up to 115 eggs in wet habitat near water bodies. She guards them and possibly defends them aggressively.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its relatively wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Amphibia - (Amphibians)
»» Order: Caudata - Salamanders
»» Family: Salamandridae - Newts
»» Subfamily: Pleurodelinae - Pleurodeline Newts
»» Genus: Dicamptodon
»» Species: Dicamptodon copei - Cope's Giant Salamander
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cope's Giant Salamander", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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