New Records of the Salamanders 



Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook) and 



Hemidactylium scutatum (Schlegel) in 



North Carolina (Amphibia: Ambystomatidae 



and Plethodontidae) 



Alvin L. Braswell and Nora A. Murdock 1 



North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, 

 P.O. Box 27647, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611 



ABSTRACT. — Disjunct populations of Ambystoma talpoideum, a salaman- 

 der which primarily occurs in the southeastern Coastal Plain and the 

 Mississippi Valley, were found in Union and Surry counties in the Pied- 

 mont. They are North Carolina's first verified records from east of the 

 eastern Continental Divide. Hemidactytium scutatum, formerly known in 

 North Carolina only from a few localities in the Piedmont and Moun- 

 tains, was found at three localities in the Coastal Plain of the state. 

 These are the first records for the species from this physiographic 

 province south of Virginia. Several other sites heretofore considered dis- 

 junct now seem to be part of a more or less continuous range. 



Knowledge of a species' distributional boundaries is a prerequisite for un- 

 derstanding the environmental factors that govern its range. Ambystoma 

 talpoideum and Hemidactylium scutatum have ranges that are imperfectly 

 known. Both species apparently have disjunct populations that suggest 

 past ranges different from those that now exist (Smith 1957, Conant 1960, 

 Dowling 1956). Shoop (1964) and Neill (1963), respectively, provided 

 reviews of the A. talpoideum and H. scutatum literature. Ambystoma talpoidum 

 is considered a southern species with northern disjunct populations, 

 whereas H. scutatum is thought to be a northern species with southern dis- 

 juncts. This paper summarizes previously reported localities in North 

 Carolina, adds new records, and provides significant range extensions for 

 both species. 



Ambystoma talpoideum 



Ambystoma talpoideum, the Mole Salamander, is chiefly an animal of the 

 southeastern Coastal Plain and the Mississippi Valley. In the northern 



Present address: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Wildlife Ser- 

 vices, 1801 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201. 



Brimleyana No. 1: 135-139. March 1979. 135 



