Amphibians
Fourche Mountain Salamander
Plethodon fourchensis · also called Fourche Mountain salamanders
Beneath a rotting log on Fourche Mountain in western Arkansas, a Fourche Mountain salamander occupies essentially the entire known range of its species, one of several closely related lungless salamanders each confined to its own single mountain within the same Ouachita range.
Overview
The Fourche Mountain salamander, Plethodon fourchensis, is a lungless amphibian endemic to forested mountain habitat on Fourche Mountain and its immediate surroundings within the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas. Its extremely narrow single-mountain endemism and status as one of several closely related, similarly range-restricted Ouachita salamanders make it a representative example of the region’s remarkable fine-scale amphibian diversity.
One mountain, one species
The Fourche Mountain salamander’s entire global existence is tied to a single specific mountain, a pattern of extreme localisation repeated with slight variations across several of its closest relatives scattered throughout the same Ouachita range.
Status
Vulnerable, known only from a single mountain in western Arkansas, where logging or other significant forest disturbance poses a real risk to the entire species.
Fourche Mountain Salamander: common questions
Where is the Fourche Mountain salamander found?
This species is known only from Fourche Mountain and its immediate surroundings within the Ouachita Mountain range of western Arkansas, an extremely narrow natural range found nowhere else on Earth, making the health of that one specific mountain directly tied to the survival of the entire species.
Why are there so many narrow-range salamander species in the Ouachita Mountains?
The Ouachita Mountains host several closely related Plethodon salamander species, each confined to its own specific mountain or small cluster of mountains, a pattern of fine-scale endemism thought to reflect long periods of isolation between populations on different peaks, allowing each isolated group to evolve into its own distinct species over time.
Why is the Fourche Mountain salamander considered vulnerable?
Because this species' entire known range is confined to a single mountain, logging or other significant forest disturbance within that specific area has the potential to significantly affect the species as a whole, since there is no other substantial population elsewhere to fall back on.
How does the Fourche Mountain salamander breathe without lungs?
This species breathes entirely through its moist skin and the lining of its mouth, an adaptation shared by all members of its family, which requires it to stay in consistently damp forest conditions in order to absorb enough oxygen through its skin surface to survive.