8 Richard Highton 



Plethodon jordani, another Ught-chinned species, occurs at higher 

 elevations in the Unicoi Mountains (Highton 1962, 1970). An electro- 

 phoretic analysis of geographic genetic variation in P. jordani and P. 

 teyahalee in the southern Appalachian Mountains by Peabody (1978) 

 showed that the latter species is more closely related to some popula- 

 tions of P. jordani than it is to most other P. glutinosus. Plethodon 

 jordani and P. teyahalee hybridize extensively in a number of contact 

 zones (Highton 1970; Highton and Henry 1970; Peabody 1978), includ- 

 ing the entire periphery of the range of P. jordani in the Unicoi Moun- 

 tains, but in many areas the two species overlap extensively without 

 evidence of hybridization. Although we have no evidence of current 

 hybridization between P. aureolus and P. teyahalee, a transect through 

 the only known contact zone between P. jordani and P. aureolus on 

 Sassafras Ridge provided evidence of hybridization between these two 

 species (unpublished data). 



The small size of P. aureolus is one of its most distinctive features. 

 As discussed in Duncan and Highton (1979), size is a difficult character 

 to use in salamander taxonomy. In Plethodon, however, mean adult size 

 and maximum length are sometimes quite consistent among genetically 

 closely related populations. At the type locality of P. aureolus, 356 indi- 

 viduals were collected for a study of the life history of the species. The 

 largest specimen is 67 mm from snout to anterior angle of the vent. 

 Only three other individuals are over 61 mm in snout-vent length. All of 

 the other species of southern Appalachian large Plethodon attain much 

 larger sizes (Highton 1970). The mean adult size of both P. glutinosus 

 and P. teyahalee is usually at least 70 mm and large adults are often 

 over 80 mm (record size, a P. teyahalee from Davis Ridge in the Great 

 Smoky Mountains, Sevier Co., Tennessee, 94 mm). In a sample of 78 P. 

 teyahalee from the type locality of P. aureolus the 10 largest females 

 range from 75-90 mm (mean 81.6) and the 10 largest males range from 

 74-90 mm (mean 78.5). 



I suggest that an appropriate common name for P. aureolus is the 

 Tellico salamander. Tellico Plains is located centrally in its range and 

 much of this region is drained by the Tellico River and its tributaries. 



Electrophoretic Genetic Analysis of Proteins. 

 Once collections from the type locality of P. aureolus were found to 

 differ genetically from all other Plethodon species, extensive field work 

 was done in the Unicoi Mountains and adjacent areas to determine the 

 geographic distribution of each of the four species and to study their 

 geographic and genetic interactions. Salamanders were obtained from 84 

 localities, and individuals from each of these were compared using the 

 same 22 genetic loci and methods described in Highton and MacGregor 

 (1983). When compared with a sample of P. glutinosus from near the type 



