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Amphibia    Caudata    Plethodontidae  
Fern Bank Salamander
Eurycea pterophila Burger, Smith, and Potter, 1950
yoor-EE-see-uh — ter-OH-fil-uh
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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:; 214 Total; 187 Museum; 27 Other

The locality database contains 8,248,812 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: 2023.04.08.20.59.18)
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Province/State Distribution:
United States: Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its habitat preference.
Eurycea — Rafinesque (1822) intentionally used a mythological-sounding name, but its specific Greek meaning or derivation was not disclosed. So, while modern etymologists may connect Eurycea to Eurydice or Greek roots (eurys “broad”), Rafinesque himself treated it as a classical name without a defined origin.
pterophila — Derived from Greek roots: πτερόν (pteron) — “wing” or “feather”; φίλος (philos) — “loving” or “fond of”; “Lover of wings” or “fond of wings.” The name likely refers to this salamander's close association with caves and springs in the Edwards Plateau, where the presence of bats (winged animals) is notable. It may symbolically reference the species’ ecological affinity for habitats shared with or reminiscent of flying organisms.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Fern Bank Neotenic Salamander (Eurycea neotenes pterophila: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Fern Bank Salamander (Eurycea neotenes pterophila: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185);


Selected References:
1950 Burger, W. Leslie, Hobart M. Smith, and Floyd E. Potter, Jr. Another neotenic Eurycea from the Edwards Plateau. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 63:51-58
1993 Arnold, Steven J., Nancy L. Reagan, and Paul A. Verrell. Reproductive isolation and speciation in plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 49(2):216-228
2003 Wiens, John J., Paul T. Chippindale, and David M. Hillis. When are phylogenetic analyses misled by convergence? A case study in Texas cave salamanders. Systematic Biology 52(4):501-514
2009 Lucas, Lauren K., Zachariah Gompert, James R. Ott, and Chris C. Nice. Geographic and genetic isolation in spring-associated Eurycea salamanders endemic to the Edwards Plateau region of Texas. Conservation Genetics 10:1309-1319
2010 Kozak, Kenneth H. and John J. Wiens. Accelerated rates of climatic-niche evolution underlie rapid species diversification. Ecology Letter 13:1378-1389

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