62 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 27 
Vomerine teeth in fl-shaped pattern, interrupted at midline, ex- 
tending forward between internal nares, paralleling outline of upper 
jaw. 
Body coloration dull dark green and light yellow, mixed without 
obvious pattern; dorsal and caudal fins with many large diffuse 
melanophores ; belly semi-iridescent, of a yellowish tinge ; legs and 
feet almost colorless; iris golden yellow, surrounded by black. 
History. — The first ascription of a ‘ tiger ’ salamander to California 
occurred in 1853 when Gray described “ Ambyo stoma Calif or niense” 
on the basis of a living specimen which was sent by Henry Gurney 
from Monterey to London, and exhibited in the garden of the London 
Zoological Society before being preserved in the British Museum. 
The plate accompanying Gray’s article figures the living animal, 
which is quite like other individuals that I have seen alive in Califor- 
nia. Gray’s name has generally been relegated to synonymy, but its 
ultimate standing cannot be decided until a careful monographic 
study of the species (C tigrinum ” is made, with abundant material 
from various parts of the country. The present writer inclines to 
the view that the California population should be considered a dis- 
tinct form, because it exhibits a general uniformity of color pattern 
the ‘mode’ of which is different from that found in other parts of 
the country ; because the life-history here shows points of difference 
from that indicated for the species elsewhere (see below) ; because 
the manner of deposition of the eggs is different from that of 
“tigrinum” elsewhere; and because the local population is isolated 
from the rest of the species by a rather broad belt of country includ- 
ing a mountain range and a strip of desert. 
Range. — Ambystoma tigrinum, to which Ambystoma calif orniense 
is most closely related, is the most widely distributed species of sala- 
mander in North America, Its range equals, if not exceeds, that of 
the ubiquitous Leopard Frog ( Rana pipiens) . At the present time 
no local races of A. tigrinum are recognized, the species being con- 
sidered the same from the lakes in the Valley of Mexico north to 
southern Canada (Ottawa), and from Maine to Colorado and Utah. 
Within this general range there are areas of considerable size in which 
the species is lacking for want of appropriate local conditions, par- 
ticularly in the arid portions of the western United States. 
Ambystoma calif orniense has been found at the following localities 
in California: Petaluma, Sonoma County (Borland, 1857, p. 194); 
Galt, Sacramento County (Storer, 1915, p. 56) ; Stockton and Bellota, 
San Joaquin County, and 4 miles south of Lagrange, Stanislaus County 
