Amphibians
Jemez Mountains Salamander
Plethodon neomexicanus · also called Jemez Mountains salamanders
Deep within volcanic rock fractures formed by eruptions long before any salamander existed to use them, a Jemez Mountains salamander waits out the dry season underground. This entire species exists nowhere but within the boundaries of one specific New Mexico caldera complex.
Overview
The Jemez Mountains salamander, Plethodon neomexicanus, is a lungless amphibian native exclusively to the volcanic caldera complex of New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains. Its extraordinarily narrow range, tied to specific underground rock fracture habitat, makes it one of the more geologically unique amphibian species in North America.
A species tied to one volcano’s legacy
The underground fracture network the Jemez Mountains salamander depends on exists specifically because of ancient volcanic activity in this one caldera, meaning the species’ entire survival is inseparably linked to geology found nowhere else within its reach.
Status
Vulnerable — federally threatened, restricted entirely to a single volcanic caldera complex and vulnerable to wildfire and drought.
Jemez Mountains Salamander: common questions
Why is the Jemez Mountains salamander restricted to just one location?
The Jemez Mountains salamander is restricted to a single volcanic caldera complex in New Mexico, an extraordinarily narrow natural range tied to the specific underground rock fracture habitat created by ancient volcanic activity in that particular formation, a geological feature not replicated anywhere else within reach of the species.
Why does the Jemez Mountains salamander spend so much time underground?
A Jemez Mountains salamander spends much of its life underground within fractures and crevices in volcanic rock, since this underground habitat provides the consistently damp conditions the lungless species needs for skin-based breathing, only emerging to the surface during relatively brief periods of favourable moisture and temperature.
What threatens the Jemez Mountains salamander?
The Jemez Mountains salamander is federally listed as threatened in the United States, with wildfire, drought, and habitat disturbance posing significant risks given the species' extraordinarily narrow range restricted to a single volcanic caldera complex, leaving it with essentially no alternative habitat to retreat to if conditions in that one location deteriorate.
Where does the Jemez Mountains salamander live?
The Jemez Mountains salamander is native exclusively to the Jemez Mountains volcanic caldera complex in north-central New Mexico, living primarily underground within rock fractures formed by ancient volcanic activity in that specific geological formation.