User talk:Mike Cline/Articles Under Contemplation/Amphibians and reptiles of Yosemite National Park

Sierra Nevada Ensatina

There are 12 species of amphibians and 22 species of reptiles known to occur in Yosemite National Park.

Amphibians

• Family: Newts Salamandridae
  • Sierra Newt (Taricha torosa sierrae) is a subspecies of the California newt. It is also referred to as the orange bellied newt. Sierra newts exist primarily in the Sierra Nevada. This is because they prefer less humid climates than the rough skinned newts. During the non-breeding season the newts are land dwelling, preferring rock crevices and logs.

• Family: Lungless Salamanders Plethodontidae
  • Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) is a species of climbing salamander. It is native to California and Baja California, where it is primarily associated with oak and sycamore woodlands, and thick chaparral. This species is an excellent climber and difficult to capture. It is nocturnal, spending daylight hours and dry periods in the cavities of oak trees, often with many other individuals of its species. A large adult can inflict a painful bite.
  • Gregarious Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps gregarius) is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family. It is endemic to California, in Tulare County in the western United States. Its natural habitats are interior chaparral and woodlands and temperate grasslands, in the lower foothills of the western Sierra Nevada and eastern San Joaquin Valley.
  • Hell Hollow slender salamander (Batrachoseps diabolicus) is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family. It is endemic to California, in Merced County in the western United States. This salamander is endemic to the watersheds of the Merced River through to the American River, at elevations below 300 metres (980 ft), on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.
  • Mount Lyell Salamander (Hydromantes platycephalus) is a species of salamander in the Plethodontidae family. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, freshwater springs, rocky areas, and caves. The Mount Lyell Salamander is a California Species of Special Concern.
  • Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) is a complex of plethodontid (lungless) salamanders. found in coniferous forests, oak woodland and chaparral from British Columbia, through Washington, Oregon, across California (where all seven subspecies variations are located), all the way down to Baja California in Mexico.

• Family: True Toads Bufonidae
  • Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) more commonly known as Bufo boreas (both names accurate) is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm long, of western North America. The range of western toad extends from western British Columbia and southern Alaska south through Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to northern Baja California, Mexico; east to Montana, western and central Wyoming, Nevada, the mountains and higher plateaus of Utah, and western Colorado. In the Pacific Northwest, the western toad occurs in mountain meadows and less commonly in Douglas-fir forests.
  • Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus is a species of the true toad family Bufonidae (Anaxyrus is a subgenus of true toads, genus Bufo). Endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, the toads range is located primarily in the Sierra National Forest and Yosemite National Park of the central Sierra Nevada. However, the long lived amphibian maybe found north of Ebbet's pass around the Blue Lakes area or as far south as Spanish Mountain. A.canorus is listed as a species of concern by the California department of Fish and Game, as well as a candidate for listed protection under the Endangered Species Act.

• Family: Tree Frogs Hylidae
  • Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla) has a range from the West Coast of the United States (from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington) to British Columbia, in Canada. They live from sea level to more than 10,000 feet in many types of habitats, reproducing in aquatic settings. They are the only frogs that go "ribbit". They come in shades of greens or browns and can change colors over periods of hours and weeks.

• Family: True Frogs Ranidae
  • Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii) is a small-sized 3.72–8.2 centimetres (1.46–3.23 in) frog from the Rana genus in the Ranidae family. This species can be found from northern Oregon, down California’s west coast, and into Baja California, Mexico. Both the Columbia Spotted Frog and the Cascades Frog, also part of the Rana genus, live in the northern regions of this frog's territory. They prefer to live in streams and rivers, and lay their eggs in masses attached to rocks underwater.Oregon]], down California's coast where it most commonly found, and into Baja California, Mexico. They prefer to be in streams and rivers versus still ponds and perfer flowing water that has either rocky substrate or sunny banks and rivers and streams that contain shallow areas that still have water flow. The Foothill Yellow-legged Frog is a California Species of Special Concern and may be extirpated from Yosemite.
  • Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog (Rana sierrae) is a true frog endemic to the Sierra Nevada mountains (in California and Nevada). This species is very similar in appearance to the Mountain yellow-legged frog. The Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog is a California Species of Special Concern.
  • American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana or by some authorities as Lithobates catesbeianus) often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or "true frogs", native to much of North America. This is a frog of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, and lakes, where it is usually found along the water's edge. The bullfrog is an introduced species in Yosemite and subject to eradication efforts by the National Park Service.

Amphibians of Yosemite National Park

• 
  Sierra Newt
• 
  Arboreal Salamander
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  Mount Lyell Salamander
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  Yosemite Toad
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  Western Toad
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  Pacific Tree Frog
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  Foothill Yellow-legged Frog
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  Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog
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  American bullfrog

Reptiles

Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmota) -- CSC Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) Great Basin fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes) Sierra fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis taylori) Sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus graciosus) Gilbert's skink (Eumeces gilberti gilberti) California whiptail (Aspidosceolis tigris mundus) San Diego alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata webbii) Sierra alligator lizard (Elgaria coerulea palmeri) Coral-bellied ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus pulchellus) Sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) Western yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor mormon) Chaparral striped racer (Coluber lateralis lateralis) California kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus californiae) Sierra mountain kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata multicincta) Sierra gartersnake (Thamnophis couchii) Mountain gartersnake (Thamnophis elegans elegans) Pacific gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer)

Reptiles

• Family: Pond turtles Emydidae
• Family: Lizards Phrynosomatidae
• Family: Skinks Scincidae
• Family: Whiptail Lizards Teiidae
• Family: Lizards Anguidae
  • Northern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea) is a medium-sized lizard that occurs along the Pacific Coast and in the Rocky Mountains from southern British Columbia through Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana south through Oregon to the coastal range and the Sierra Nevada in central California. The species is widely distributed along the Pacific coast and can be found from sea level up to elevation of about 3350 m (11000 ft). It is found in a variety of forested habitats and montane chaparral.

• Family: Boas Boidae
  • Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) are the most northerly of boa species. The distribution of Rubber Boas covers a large portion of the western United States, stretching from the Pacific Coast east to western Utah and Montana, as far south as the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles in California, and as far north as southern British Columbia. Rubber Boas have been known to inhabit a wide variety of habitat types from grassland, meadows and chaparral to deciduous and conifer forests, to high alpine settings. They can be found at elevations anywhere from sea level to over 10,000 feet (3,000 m).

• Family: Snakes Colubridae
  • Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans vagrans) is a subspecies of the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake, a species of colubrid snake residing only in Southwestern Canada, and Western United States. Seven subspecies are currently recognized. Most snakes have a yellow, light orange, or white dorsal stripe, accompanied by two stripes on its side of the same color. Some varieties have red or black spots between the dorsal stripe and the side stripes. This snake often inhabits coniferous forests, and is relatively aquatic.
  • Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi) is a subspecies of the common garter snake. It is a snake indigenous to North America. Most garter snakes have a pattern of yellow stripes on a brown background and their average length is about 1 metre (3.3 ft) to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). The common garter snake is a diurnal snake. In summer, it is most active in the morning and late afternoon; in cooler seasons or climates, it restricts its activity to the warm afternoons.
  • California Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata nuchalata) is a species of small colubrid snake native to California. They are considered to be rear-fanged venomous, but not dangerous to humans. The California Night Snake ranges throughout western California, ringing the central valley, but is not found in the valley itself.
• Family: Vipers Viperidae
  • Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) is a venomous pitviper species found in North America in the western United States, parts of British Columbia and northwestern Mexico. Seven subspecies are currently recognized. Pacific rattlesnake, The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake found in Yosemite is (Crotalus oreganus oreganus) and ranges from the Pacific slope in British Columbia, Canada, south through the United States to San Luis Obispo County and Kern County in California. This includes south-central British Columbia, Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, western Idaho from Coeur d'Alene south to near Council or Weiser, northern and western Oregon (excluding the Cascades), and California west of the Sierra Nevada. Also found on Morro Rock off the coast of San Luis Obispo County.

Reptiles of Yosemite National Park

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  Western Pond Turtle
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  Coast Horned Lizard
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  Sierra Fence Lizard
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  Sagebrush Lizard
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  Gibert's Skink
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  Northern Alligator Lizard
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  Rubber Boa
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  Western Yellow-bellied Racer
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  Chapparal Striped Whipsnake
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  California Kingsnake
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  California Mountain Kingsnake
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  Wandering Garter Snake
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  Valley Garter Snake
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  Gopher Snake
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  Northern Pacific Rattlesnake