Late Pleistocene Salamander (Caudata; Plethodontidae) from Santa Rosa Island, Northern Channel Islands, California

Abstract

We present the first record of a late Pleistocene salamander, Batrachoseps (Plethodontidae; Bolitoglossini) from the Northern Channel Islands. Fossils were recovered in sediments by using 700 |Jim mesh wet sieving. Ocean currents could have transported any or all of the known seven families of salamanders presently inhabiting coastal USA to the islands. We suggest that only the Plethodontini and Bolitoglossini were likely to successfully colonize the Pleistocene-age coalesced island, Santarosae, due to their lack of an aquatic larval stage. The recovery of Batrachoseps from Carrington Point implies a moist, organic understory, but it does not dictate a particular habitat reconstruction.