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

Abstract

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