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News Release
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
Indiana Mole Salamanders
Friday, April 02, 2004
Indiana Biologists Find Mole Salamanders
by Rick Callahan, Associated Press Writer
Indianapolis - Wildlife biologists tromping through a far southwestern Indiana
swamp have stumbled onto salamanders never before documented in the state.
The breeding colony of 23 Mole Salamanders (Ambystoma talpoideum),
brownish-black amphibians that grow to about 4 inches in length, were found last
week in Posey County.
"Nobody knew this species lived in Indiana, and it would be interesting to see if it
is the only population in the whole state," said Rod Williams, vertebrate curator
with Purdue University's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
Williams and Brian MacGowan, a Purdue University Extension wildlife specialist,
caught one of the mole salamanders in a live trap they were using catch another
species of salamander, and then found more nearby.
"With vertebrate species, finding a breeding population of a new species doesn't
just happen every day," MacGowan said.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is weighing whether to designate
the salamanders as a species of special concern or a state endangered species.
Mole salamanders are common in swamps and wetlands in the southern United
States, but also live in extreme southern Illinois, western Kentucky and Missouri.
The Posey County population is among the northernmost reportings for the
species to date. They were found in a bald cypress swamp, which occur in Indiana
only in its far southwestern corner.
"When you're there among huge bald cypress trees growing in standing water,
you almost think you're back in time, or down in the deep south," MacGowan said.
MacGowan said it's unknown if the Mole Salamanders have existed all along in
Posey County or if they were recently transported there from Illinois or
Kentucky by a flood or some other way. The precise location of the find was not
disclosed.
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
Indiana Mole Salamanders
Friday, April 02, 2004
Indiana Biologists Find Mole Salamanders
by Rick Callahan, Associated Press Writer
Indianapolis - Wildlife biologists tromping through a far southwestern Indiana
swamp have stumbled onto salamanders never before documented in the state.
The breeding colony of 23 Mole Salamanders (Ambystoma talpoideum),
brownish-black amphibians that grow to about 4 inches in length, were found last
week in Posey County.
"Nobody knew this species lived in Indiana, and it would be interesting to see if it
is the only population in the whole state," said Rod Williams, vertebrate curator
with Purdue University's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.
Williams and Brian MacGowan, a Purdue University Extension wildlife specialist,
caught one of the mole salamanders in a live trap they were using catch another
species of salamander, and then found more nearby.
"With vertebrate species, finding a breeding population of a new species doesn't
just happen every day," MacGowan said.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is weighing whether to designate
the salamanders as a species of special concern or a state endangered species.
Mole salamanders are common in swamps and wetlands in the southern United
States, but also live in extreme southern Illinois, western Kentucky and Missouri.
The Posey County population is among the northernmost reportings for the
species to date. They were found in a bald cypress swamp, which occur in Indiana
only in its far southwestern corner.
"When you're there among huge bald cypress trees growing in standing water,
you almost think you're back in time, or down in the deep south," MacGowan said.
MacGowan said it's unknown if the Mole Salamanders have existed all along in
Posey County or if they were recently transported there from Illinois or
Kentucky by a flood or some other way. The precise location of the find was not
disclosed.