Opening at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) on May 16, 2009, the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity features 2,500 species within seven ecosystem experiences. The gallery highlights endangered and threatened species from around the world and includes the life-sized model of the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) shown above.

Conservation International is reporting the discovery of a unique bug-eyed salamander species from a recent expedition from the Nangaritza region of southeastern Ecuador. The salamander from the genus Bolitoglossa belongs to a group of salamanders also called Tropical climbing salamanders or Web-footed Salamanders. These are tree dwelling or arboreal salamanders that have feet that are fully webbed, enabling them to cling to smooth surfaces.

The amount of land that the Tejon Ranch Company holds is large, very large, and a significant portion of the land is prime for development. According to the Tejon Ranch Company Web site, the ranch is nearly 270,000 acres (422 square miles), the largest contiguous expanse of private land in California - larger than the City of Los Angeles - and about 40% the size of Rhode Island. Future development projects include a resort, industrial complex and a sustainable new town community. The Tehachapi slender salamander is only found in a small region of California, small enough that it is found almost no where else but within land held by the Tejon Ranch Company.

Because most of the known Tehachapi slender salamander population occurred within the Tejon Ranch company land and high potential for development on that land, in 2006, Jeremy Nichols petitioned the government to list the salamander as an endangered species. According to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, any citizen may petition the government to list a species as endangered or threatened. Jeremy's petition presented substantial information on the distribution, biology and threats to the species and due to his petition on April 22, 2009 US Fish and Wildlife Service completed a 90-day finding on the salamander. Based on information from the 90-day finding, The Service will conduct a 12-month finding to determine if the salamander will be listed as threatened or endangered.

Labels: Tehachapi slender salamander

Daniel Mitsui, a freelance illustrator in Chicago, has displayed on his blog a beautifully detailed illustration based on the crucifixion of Christ. The illustration includes "four small figures which represent the elements" including one figure holding an unburning salamander. Not surprising as salamanders throughout history have often been used to symbolize the element of fire. The background detail is astonishing with many, varied images including skulls, frogs, planaria and crabs that enhance the larger images of the crucifixion.

The town of Columbia, South Carolina is unveiling a new interactive walking tour using the theme of the South Carolina state amphibian, the spotted salamander. Stops on the interactive tour are marked by numbered, bronze statues of the spotted salamander. The tour, named Sally Salamander, opens officially on Saturday, April 25 with family-friendly games, activities and prizes.

Is it just me or does the Sally Salamander logo have a resemblance to the TSMP logo?

While viewing accepted proposals at the Citizen-based Monitoring Network of Wisconsin (apparently they made $100,000 available in 2008), I noticed a successful proposal to monitor salamanders, supposedly the only project monitoring salamanders in Wisconsin. Run by the Wisconsin Audubon Council, the salamander monitoring began in 2008 using funnel traps to collect adult salamanders during the Spring.

A group of scientist including Conservation International herpetologists have discovered a potentially new species of salamander from the genus Bolitoglossa. Searching in a mountainous region of Colombia near the border with Panama, the scientists also found a salamander species, Taylor's salamander, Bolitoglossa taylori (shown above), never before found this far north in Central America.

The National Geographic Channel featured "Clash of the Giant Salamanders" last night (January 17, 2009) on Dangerous Encounters. Dr. Brady Barr sought out the world's four largest salamanders: Hellbender, Japanese Giant Salamander, Greater Siren and Two-toed Amphiuma. Initially, he sought out the Chinese Giant Salamander and not surprisingly was denied access to the salamander's native habitat by the Chinese government. The closest he was able to get to the threatened salamander was watching it being enjoyed as a dish in a restaurant in Beijing.

The National Geographic Channel web site posted two videos from the show which have been embedded below.

To complement the recent posts regarding wine - wine companies helping with salamander conservation or a winery naming themselves after a salamander, I've come across a listing of a brewer, Rahr & Sons Brewing in Fort Worth, Texas, naming a beer after a salamander, the Texas Blind Salamander, Eurycea rathbuni. The brewer is donating a portion of the Blind Salamander Pale Ale proceeds to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation to help with species recovery.

For those who care more about the drinking of the beer, I've checked ratebeer.com and Blind Salamander Pale Ale scored a 53 out of 100.

The Axolotl and the Hellbender are aquatic, salamander species both with unique conservation issues. Between the two, the Axolotl is a little more unfortunate, at least when it comes to survival in it's native habitat. The Axolotl is only found in a polluted lake system (Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco) filled with invasive species outside of Mexico City and once gone it may never be able to return to its native habitat. Axolotl conservation in it's native habitat has been focused more on education than any other means.

The Hellbender has a better chance at survival in its native habitat. Water quality is decent throughout its range in the southern United States and it's range is large compared to the Axolotl. Even though the Axolotl's habitat is much more degraded there is not much chance of extinction since it's used in science labs throughout the world. Now a conservation group is attempting to give the Hellbender a similar chance by raising them within a lab. The Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation at the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute in conjunction with The Missouri Department of Conservation are planning to breed the salamander in captivity for release later in the wild.

Hopefully, with sustained water quality and habitat preservation, the Hellbender will survive in it's native habitat. The outlook for the Axolotl is far more grim.

As a coincidence to my post last Tuesday on a California winery doing good for salamanders, while reading Educating Peter, a book on wine basics, I came across a note regarding exceptional wine from a NY winery named Red Newt Cellars. Red Newt Cellars isn't as large or mention being as engaged environmentally as Kendall-Jackson but it's nice to see the newt on the bottle and they do provide some education on the Red-spotted Newt and even named their 2005 Red Blend "Viridescens" after the Newt's scientific name.

Wine production and salamander conservation don't often come together but due to the recent endangered species designation of the The California Tiger salamander, the international wine producer Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, now known as Jackson Family Wines, has developed two ponds specifically for salamander breeding on their Los Alamos property. The pond creation will allow the company to be excluded from critical habitat designation, presumably to enable the company to continue wine production on the property while coexisting with the salamander. The company Web site doesn't specifically mention the pond creation but does mention 700 acres of property set aside for the Tiger Salamander.