Common Name: Ensatina
Scientific Name: Ensatina eschscholtzii
Family: Plethodontidae – Lungless Salamander Family
Location: United States, Canada, and Mexico
US Location: California, Oregon, and Washington
Size: 5 inches or 145 mm total length
The Ensatina Salamander is a complex of usually 7 different subspecies of salamanders found along the western coast of North America. They are referred to as a ring species or Rassenkreis, which is a series of connected populations that can interbreed with the close populations but can’t with the farther out populations.
The seven subspecies are..
- Yellow-blotched Ensatina (E. e. croceater )
- Monterey Ensatina (E. e. eschscholtzii)
- Large-blotched Ensatina (E. e. klauberi)
- Oregon Ensatina (E. e. oregonensis)
- Painted Ensatina (E. e. picta)
- Sierra Nevada Ensatina (E. e. platensis)
- Yellow-eyed Ensatina (E. e. xanthoptica)
Below is a map of the ranges of the subspecies.
Source: (2011). “Asymmetric reproductive isolation between terminal forms of the salamander ring species Ensatina eschscholtzii revealed by fine-scale genetic analysis of a hybrid zone”. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11 (1): 245.
The Ensatinas are terrestrial salamanders that are direct developing meaning their eggs hatch into small salamanders instead of tadpoles. Female salamanders usually lay around 10 to 15 eggs at a time on the ground. Breeding season in fall and spring but also happens during the winter too.
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