THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  

Santeetlah Dusky Salamander
Desmognathus santeetlah Tilley, 1981
DEZ-moh-NAY-thus — san-TEET-lah

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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Occurrences:; 1,385 Total; 1,200 Museum; 185 Other
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: North Carolina Tennessee

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for a region in North Carolina.
Desmognathus — Greek desmos = “ligament” + gnathos = “jaw”; Refers to the jaw ligament morphology.
santeetlah — Named for the Santeetlah Creek or Lake Santeetlah, a toponym of Cherokee origin.

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

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1981 Tilley, S. G. A new species of Desmognathus (Amphibia: Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (695):1–23
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
2000 Tilley, Steven G. Desmognathus santeetlah. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (703):1-3
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letter 13:1378-1389

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 07 August 2026 06:17 CT