The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan: A Quaternary and Recent Faunal Adventure

Part 2. Species Accounts

Checklist of Michigan Amphibians and Reptiles Following is a checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Michigan. For scientific names down to the family level, I follow Frost (1985) for salamanders and anurans, Ernst and Lovich (2009) for turtles, Estes (1983) for lizards (with the exception that the Squamata is considered an order that contains both lizards and snakes), and Holman (2000) for snakes. For common names of families, I generally follow Frank and Ramus (1995). For genera, species, and subspecies (for both scientific and common names), I generally follow the standardized work of Crother (2008), except for the deviations noted. Where a species is divided into two or more recognized subspecies, those subspecies present in Michigan are listed. I also use traditional (Linnaean) taxonomic groupings (e.g., classes, orders, families), despite a recent trend to abandon these categories in favor of hierarchical phylogenies based on presumed evolutionary relationships (seeVitt and Caldwell 2009, 20–25, for discussion). Note that the taxonomic placement and scientific names of amphibians and reptiles are presently quite unstable, as new studies (particularly those based on DNA) are published and new arrangements of relationships are proposed on an almost daily basis. In this book and in the following checklist I have attempted to incorporate recent changes for which the acceptance level appears high among herpetologists, but for recent proposed changes that remain controversial, I have chosen to retain more familiar and traditional nomenclature. For example, Frost et al. (2006) offered a greatly revised taxonomy of the amphibians; in this work the authors replaced the familiar generic designations for Michigan’s toads (Bufo) and ranid frogs (Rana) with Anaxyrus and Lithobates, respectively.While this change was accepted by Crother (2008), some respected herpetologists have challenged the rationale for these changes (e.g., Pauly et al. 2009); thus, until this controversy is settled, it seems prudent to use the traditional names. In any case, the taxonomic arrangement and many of the names used here will certainly be modified or superceded in the future. The roman numerals signify the Michigan Regional Landscape Ecosystems (MRLE) distribution (I–IV) of each Michigan form (see fig. 10). An “A” signifies that a species occurs in all four regions. 27 Species Accounts 2 The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan 28 CLASS AMPHIBIA Linnaeus 1758—Amphibians ORDER CAUDATA Oppel 1811—Salamanders FAMILY AMBYSTOMATIDAE Hallowell 1858—Mole Salamanders Ambystoma laterale Hallowell 1856—Blue-spotted Salamander—A Ambystoma laterale Hallowell 1856 x Ambystoma jeffersonianum (Green 1827)—Blue-spotted/Jefferson Salamander complex—I Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw 1802)—Spotted Salamander—A Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst 1807)—Marbled Salamander—I Ambystoma texanum (Matthes 1855)—Smallmouthed Salamander—I Ambystoma tigrinum tigrinum (Green 1825)—Eastern Tiger Salamander—I, II, III FAMILY PLETHODONTIDAE Gray 1850—Lungless Salamanders Hemidactylium scutatum (Temminck and Schlegel in Von Siebold 1838)—Four-toed Salamander—A Plethodon cinereus (Green 1818)—Eastern Redbacked Salamander—A FAMILY PROTEIDAE Gray 1825—Olms and Waterdogs Necturus maculosus maculosus (Rafinesque 1818)— Common Mudpuppy—A FAMILY SALAMANDRIDAE Gray 1825—Newts and Fire Salamanders Notophthalmus viridescens (Rafinesque 1820)— Eastern Newt: Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis (Wolterstorff 1914)—Central Newt—A Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens (Rafinesque 1820)—Red-spotted Newt—I FAMILY SIRENIDAE Gray 1825—Sirens Siren intermedia nettingi (Goin 1942)—Western Lesser Siren—I ORDER ANURA Rafinesque 1815—Frogs and Toads Toads: FAMILY BUFONIDAE Gray 1825—True Toads Bufo americanus americanus Holbrook 1836—Eastern American Toad—A Bufo fowleri Hinckley 1882—Fowler’s Toad—I, II Frogs: FAMILY HYLIDAE Gray 1825 (1815)—Treefrogs Acris crepitans blanchardi Harper 1947—Blanchard’s Cricket Frog—I, II, ?III Hyla chrysoscelis Cope 1880—Cope’s Gray Treefrog—A Hyla versicolor LeConte 1825—Gray Treefrog—A Pseudacris crucifer crucifer (Wied-Neuwied 1838)— Northern Spring Peeper—A Pseudacris maculata (Agassiz 1850)—Boreal Chorus Frog—IV Pseudacris triseriata (Wied-Neuwied 1838)—Western Chorus Frog—A FAMILY RANIDAE Gray 1825—True Frogs Rana catesbeiana Shaw 1802—American Bullfrog—A Rana clamitans melanota Rafinesque 1820—Northern Green Frog—A Rana palustris LeConte 1825—Pickerel Frog—A Rana pipiens Schreber 1782—Northern Leopard Frog—A Rana septentrionalis Baird 1854—Mink Frog—III, IV Rana sylvatica LeConte 1825—Wood Frog—A CLASS REPTILIA Laurenti 1768—Reptiles ORDER TESTUDINES Batsch 1788—Turtles FAMILY CHELYDRIDAE Gray 1870—Snapping Turtles Chelydra serpentina serpentina (Linnaeus 1758)— Eastern Snapping Turtle—A FAMILY EMYDIDAE Lydekker 1889—New World Pond Turtles Chrysemys picta (Schneider 1783)—Painted Turtle: Chrysemys picta bellii (Gray 1831)—Western Painted Turtle—IV Chrysemys p. marginata (Agassiz 1857)—Midland Painted Turtle—I...