Dunn — Two New Salamanders of the Genus Desmognathus 75 



Description. — The vomerines are always present in the female. Males 

 lose them at a total length of 65-75 mm. The vomerines form a short, 

 scarcely arched series, containing 5-6 teeth. The series are separated 

 from the nares by two-thirds the length of one of them, from each other 

 by one-fourth length, and from the parasphenoids by one length. The 

 parasphenoid series are separate for their whole length. The mandibular 

 dentition is as in ochrophsea. The teeth in the male lower jaw are large, 

 and are confined to the part anterior to the eye. The outline of the jaw 

 is very strongly flexuous in the male. The female has a more flexuous 

 outline of the jaw than the female of ochrophpca. The tail usually shows 

 no trace of a dorsal keel, but is cylindrical throughout, and marked by 

 strong segmented grooves, as is the tail of Plethodon erythronatus. The 

 tail is quite long proportionally, being frequently longer than the head 

 and body. The tail of the female is longer than that of the male. Males 

 reach a larger size than do females. The number of costal interspaces 

 between the appressed limbs is four. The head length is from 4-43^ in 

 the length of head and body. The head width is from 5^-6 in the length 

 of head and body. The skin of the head is finely rugose as in many 

 specimens of quadramaculata and monticola from the North Carolina 

 mountains. The tubercle canthus oculi is uniformly present. 



The color of this form is variable. Old specimens are uniformly black. 

 As a rule the dorsal pattern is intermediate between that of ochrophxa 

 and that of fusca. That is, there is a very dark lateral band but the 

 back shows traces of an original series of dorsal light spots. The black- 

 ness of the sides of the tail is as characteristic of this form as of ochro- 

 phsea. Unlike ochrophs-a, the belly of carolinensis becomes black with age. 



Remarks. — Although very close to ochrophxa and probably intergrad- 

 ing with it in the mountains of northern West Virginia, this form tends 

 toward the other species of the genus. The presence of the tubercle 

 canthus oculi and the darkness of the belly are both characters in which 

 it diverges from ochrophiea and towards the other species of the genus. 

 The color of the dorsal surface is usually more like that of the other 

 forms, although some specimens from the type locality show a dorsal 

 pattern exactly like oc/i?-op/ia;a from Pennsylvania. Cope (1889) men- 

 tions this form as a variety of ochrophiea on page 194 of the " Batrachia 

 of North America." 



Distribution. — From Beverly, West Virginia, south in mountains to 

 Gwinnett County, Georgia. Canadian zone. Vertical range, 2500-6500 

 feet. 



Specimens examined. — Sixty-one, from localities as follows: Georgia: 

 Gwinnett County, 1. North Carolina: Mt. Mitchell (type locality), 19; 

 Cane River, 6; Yancey County, 1; Roan Mt.,8; Blantyre, 2; Highlands, 

 2; Wayah Bald, 2; Tatula Mt., 1 ; Andrews, 1; Henderson County, 1; 

 Haywood County, 11. Tennessee: Roan Mt., 7. West Virginia: Big 

 Spring River, 3; Rich Mt., near Beverly, 1. 



