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Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  
Wolf Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus lycos Pyron and Beamer, 2023
DEZ-moh-NAY-thus — LYE-kohs
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 New Species. Delimited from D. fuscus by Pyron and Beamer (2023, Zootaxa 5311: 451–504). (Pyron, R. Alexander, Christopher K. Beachy, David A. Beamer, and Kenneth M. Kozak. 2025. Caudata – Salamanders. Pages 10-21 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 574 Total; 0 Museum; 574 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2023.08.31.17.02.20)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: South Carolina

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its resemblance to a wolf spider or its ferocity.
Desmognathus — Greek desmos = “ligament” + gnathos = “jaw”
lycos — Greek lykos (λύκος) = “wolf”; May reference either a wolf-like pattern, behavior, or allusion to wolf spiders (Lycosidae), which it may resemble in habitat.

First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.


Selected References:
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
1996 Titus, Tom A. and Allan Larson. Molecular phylogenetics of Desmognathine salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae): A reevaluation of evolution in ecology, life history, and morphology. Systematic Biology 45(4):451-472
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letter 13:1378-1389
2023 Pyron, R. Alexander and David A. Beamer. Systematic revision of the Spotted and Northern Dusky Salamanders (Plethodontidae: Desmognathus conanti and D. fuscus), with six new species from the eastern United States. Zootaxa 5311(4):451–504

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