652 ANIMAL LIFE IN TEE YOSEMITE 



Mount Lyell Salamander, Eurycea platycephala (Camp) 



Field characters. — Length under five inches. Head broad and flat, wider than body 

 at any point; tail shorter than body; small half -webs present between toes. (See 

 pi. 60/.) Coloration dark chocolate with numerous lichen-like gray markings on upper 

 surface and sides of body. 



Occurrence. — One record; two specimens taken in head of Lyell Canon at 10,800 

 feet altitude, July 18, 1915. Found in heather among rocks close to streams of water 

 which issued from beneath snowbanks. 



From a scientific standpoint the greatest event of the entire Yosemite 

 survey was the discovery of a salamander new to science and belonging 

 to a group (the genus Eurycea, earlier called Spelerpes) previously not 

 known to occur in the Pacific coast region of North America. 



In the middle of July, 1915, we established a collecting station near 

 the head of Lyell Cailon, and lines of traps were run in various situations 

 in order to ascertain the species of mammals occurring in the vicinity. 

 We were particularly anxious to capture the Mountain Lemming Mouse 

 and many traps were placed in patches of Sierran heather (BnjantJms 

 hreweri) where that mammal was believed to live. One mouse trap was 

 placed by Mr. Charles L. Camp at the entrance of a small hole in the moist 

 soil beside a large rock outcrop, under a patch of heather about one hun- 

 dred feet in diameter. This location was on an east-facing slope at 10,800 

 feet altitude near the Donohue Pass trail and about one mile below the 

 Lyell Glacier. 



On the morning of July 18, as we were en route to ascend Mount Lyell, 

 two of these remarkable salamanders were found in this one trap. The 

 animals had evidently walked out of the hole simultaneously and directly 

 into the trap. A stream of water issued from the snowbanks close by and 

 disappeared in rock slides below. The patch of heather was in direct sun- 

 shine most of the day. No other specimens were obtained. (See Camp, 

 1916a, pp. 11-14, figs. 1-5.) 



Other species of this group of salamanders, which occur in eastern 

 North America, are known to be nocturnal in habits and to spend part 

 of the larval (tadpole) stage of life in water. Whether or not the Mount 

 Lyell Salamander conforms to these habits is unknown. Mountaineers 

 visiting the alpine portions of the Yosemite region have the opportunity 

 to discover many facts of great interest from a natural history standpoint 

 relating to this novel species. 



