Tennessee Cave Salamander: Distribution, Size, and Evolution, Study notes of Animal Biology

Download Tennessee Cave Salamander: Distribution, Size, and Evolution and more Study notes Animal Biology in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Ecology and Natural History of Cave-dwelling Salamanders with an emphasis on the Tennessee Cave Salamander Complex Matthew L. Niemiller Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology March 27, 2007 Cave Colonization by Vertebrates • Limited by: – Darkness – Scarcity of Food – Dimension of Cavities • Classification: – Troglobite (Plethodontidae and Proteidae) – Troglophile (Ambystomatidae, Dicamptodontidae, Hynobiidae, Plethodontidae, Salamandridae) – Trogloxene – Accidental • 9 troglobitic salamanders – 8 in North America – All but 2 are paedomorphic • No sympatry Phenotypic Characters Associated with Cave-dwelling Salamanders Reduced or Lost Larval periodLimbs Lipid storageNonvisual brain centers Response to vibrationLife spanChemo- and mechanosensors Enlarged or Lengthened Metamorphosis Egg volumeBody size AggregationFecundityPigmentation AggressionCircadian rhythmsVisual brain centers Response to lightMetabolismEyes BehavioralPhysiologicalMorphological 2 Cave-associated Traits Cave Development 5 Spring Salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus • Aquatic and terrestrial troglophile • Range from mountains of east TN to Cumberland Plateau • Larvae resemble G. palleucus in appearance but differ in eye size and head shape Cannon County, TN 2005 (B Miller) Spring Salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus Blue Ridge Spring Salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus danielsi 6 G. palleucus or G. porphyriticus? TN Cave Salamander adult Rutherford Co., TN Spring Salamander larva DeKalb Co., TN G. p. necturoides and the Stone Cave G. porphyriticus? Frick’s Cave, Walker Co. GA 7 Coffee Co., TN G. porphyriticus In Search of … The Tennessee Cave Salamander Processing TN Cave Salamanders 10 0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 Cave Cove Cave Sinking Cove Cave Custard Hollow Cave SVL (mm) Weight (g) Size Comparison of Individuals > 70 mm SVL Between G. p. palleucus Caves p = 0.000054 p = 0.000014 . . p = 0.0097 p = 0.0035 . . p = 0.00000016 p = 0.00000004 . . Big Mouth Cave Population Size Time of Last Capture 1 2 3 4 5 6 29 Jun 2004 1 2 1 1 1 0 21 Jul 2004 2 8 9 1 2 06 Feb 2005 3 4 5 1 10 Mar 2005 4 6 2 17 Apr 2005 5 6 16 Jun 2005 6 Total marked (mt) 0 2 9 14 13 11 Total unmarked (ut) 6 24 22 13 6 8 Total caught (nt = mt + ut) 6 26 31 27 19 19 Total released (st) 6 26 31 27 19 19 Juveniles unmarked 4 2 3 6 6 6 i l t l t t l t t l t t t t t l l t il • ca. 365 m stream passage • Jolly-Seber estimate of 97.1 individuals • Schnabel estimate of 153.0 individuals ll i i i i l l i i i i l Growth of Marked Individuals at Big Mouth Cave 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 Days Sn ou t- Ve nt L en gt h (m m ) L32 L30 L28 L14 L13 L09 L01 G97 L13 L32 L09 G97 L14 L28 L01 L30 11 G. p. palleucus and G. p. necturoides Juveniles Franklin County, TN August 2004 (M Niemiller) 24 mm SVL Coffee County, TN October 2004 (M Niemiller) 26 mm SVL Potential Predation by Crayfish (Cambarus sp.) Roane County, TN, Mar. 2005 A B DC Other Predators? 12 Evolution of G. palleucus • G. palleucus at the western periphery of the range of G. porphyriticus • G. palleucus likely evolved from an epigean Gyrinophilus (Brandon 1971) • Low elevation populations of G. porphyriticus took refuge and became isolated in subterranean habitats during interglacial periods (Simmons 1975) Tennessee Cave Salamander Distribution mtDNA ML Phylogram M U1 C 2 C 1 G PO R G . p or ph yr itic us D C C 2 C H 1 K 2 C F1 S 1 G A1 P M 1 G A2 C Y1 L 1 S H1 G F1 S A1 G S1 S S1 M C1 B 1 S R1 G . p al le uc us A S 1 C R1 M Q 1 M F1 G . g ul ol in ea tu s A N4 H C1 B M 1 S T1 P 2 P 3 G I1 G I3 R R 1 W C3 W C1 G . p or ph yr itic us A G . p or ph yr itic us B G 1 S P 2 M 2 F 1 G . p or ph yri tic us C G . p or ph yr itic us d an ie lsi S M 1 P se ud ot rit on ru be r S te re oc hi lu s m ar gi na tu s 0. 02 1.00/ 100 1.00/ 99 1.00/ 99 1.00/ 96 0.87/ 73 0.97/ 82 1.00/ 100 1.00/ 100 1.00/ 100 1.00/ 100 731.00/ 96 1.00/ 98 1.00/ 100 1.00/ 100 15 TAG Amphibian Cave Survey • 122 caves, 213 surveys • Amphibians: 14 salamanders (2818 records), 10 frogs (312 records) • Reptiles: 3 snakes (5 records), 1 lizard (1 record), 1 turtle (3 records) Sampling Localities 16 Cave Amphibian Records Notophthalmus viridescens (1, AC) Hemidactylium scutatum (1, AC) Desmognathus conanti (33, TX/AC) Desmognathus abditus (1, AC) Acris crepitans (1, AC)Plethodon petraeus (4, TX) Hyla chrysoscelis (1, AC)Plethodon glutinosus (340, TX) Pseudacris crucifer (1, AC)Plethodon dorsalis (62, TX) Gastrophryne carolinensis (1, AC)Pseudotriton ruber (225, TP) Bufo fowleri (1, AC)Eurycea cirrigera (66, TX) Bufo americanus (1, AC)Eurycea longicauda (78, TP) Rana sphenocephala (1, AC)Eurycea lucifuga (851, TP) Rana catesbeiana (32, TX)Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (436, TP) Rana clamitans (100, TX)Gyrinophilus palleucus (676, TB) Rana palustris (173, TX)Gyrinophilus gulolineatus (44, TB) FrogsSalamanders Cave Reptile Records Scincella lateralis Nerodia sipedon Elaphe obsoleta (3 records) Terrapene carolina (3 records)Crotalus horridus TurtlesSquamates Spring Salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus • 438 records • 14 caves • Adults and larvae • Cannibalism • Parasites 17 Southern Two-lined Salamander Eurycea cirrigera • 66 records • 8 caves • Adults, larvae, and eggs • Migration • Oviposition Eurycea cirrigera Egg Development Eurycea cirrigera Egg Development 1Adult female found in attendance of egg mass. 38 (38)1512619 71 (21)12183388 65 (19)1080917 HTHT54 (38)1426386 HT46 (29)61 (10)986645 HT31 (43)32 (37)1443594 58 (29)1400563 HT53 (40)156 (26)11440532 60 (42)61 (31)161 (11)11408 461 26 Feb09 Feb26 JanMass Surface Area (mm2) Distance from Entrance (m) Egg Mass 20 A B Psuedotriton ruber Oviposition Zigzag Salamander Plethodon dorsalis • 851 records • 14 caves • Adults, juveniles, and eggs • Oviposition Northern Slimy Salamander Plethodon glutinosus • 340 records • 30 caves • Adults and juveniles • Up to 102 individuals during a single survey 21 Pickerel Frog Rana palustris • 173 records • 34 caves • Adults and juveniles Green Frog Rana clamitans • 100 records • 27 caves • Adults and juveniles Any Questions?