California
Reptiles & Amphibians

Currently Undescribed California Reptiles and Amphibians
and
Species of Possible Occurance in California

Currently Undescribed Reptiles and Amphibians Occuring in California The following are species that are found on some lists of reptiles and amphibians naturally occuring in California, but they have not yet been officially described and added to the SSAR species lists. Some of these are probably not distinct or are no longer recognized and they will probably never be described. We have pictures and information regarding some of these, and some are tentatively included on our lists. Others are just speculation. Follow the links for more pictures and information.
Salamanders
Batrachoseps sp. - Breckenridge Mountain Slender Salamander	Known only from a single locality on Breckenridge Mountain, Kern County. First found in 1977, although not recognized as a unique taxon until later. This salamander is currrently undescribed, but it is being described by David B. Wake and Robert W. Hansen, as a distinctive taxon.
Batrachoseps sp. - Fairview Slender Salamander	Slender Salamanders from the upper Kern River Canyon are somewhat different from those in lower Kern River Canyon. In most texts and specis lists they are included with Batrachoseps simatus, the Kern Canyon Slender Salamander. These salamanders may consist of several species. More.
Dicamptodon ensatus - California Giant Salamander sp.	According to a March 20th 2006 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinal, UC Santa Cruz biologist Barry Sinervo is studying a type of giant salamander that lives in a network of caves in Santa Cruz County. The salamanders, which are strictly aquatic and apparently blind, may prove to be a new species, but they are probably just a form of the California Giant Salamander - Dicamptodon ensatus.
Hydromantes sp. - Owens Valley web-toed salamander (AKA Oak Creek salamander)	Hydromantes salamanders from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are currently grouped with Hydromantes platycephalus, although they differ in color and habitat. It has been suggested that these salamanders constitute a distinct species, which has been tentatively named the Owens Valley Web-toed Salamander.
Snakes
Contia sp. - (Long-tailed) Sharp-tailed Snake	The snake traditionally known as Contia tenuis might consist of two species which are almost identical in appearance. The new species is a long-tailed form recently discovered by Richard Hoyer with DNA evidence presented by Feldman and Spicer in 2002. (Journal of Herpetology 36(4): 648-655).This second species has not yet been formally recognized pending further research. The ranges of these species overlap along the northern California coast. The long-tailed species appears to prefer cool, humid, coniferous forests along the north coast. You can read more about this new species here, and here.
Crotalus oreganus sp. - Catalina Island Rattlesnake	Some naturalists believe that rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island are distinct from those on the mainland and will be recognized as a different subspecies once DNA studies are completed. LA Times Article 11/28/09
Thamnophis hammondii ssp. - Santa Catalina Garter Snake	The Two-striped Gartersnakes occuring on Santa Catalina Island have been classified as a separate subspecies by some researchers, but recognition of this subspecies is not common.
Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. - South Coast garter snake	Southern California populations of T. sirtalis along the coastal plain from Ventura County to San Diego County might be recognized as a distinct taxon, the South Coast Gartersnake, pending an official published description. More information can be found on our T. s. infernalis page.
Reptiles and Amphibian Species of Possible Occurance in California The following are recognized species of reptiles and amphibians which might occur within the state boundaries of California, but which have not been confirmed or need taxonomic analysis. None of these is on our lists yet. Also see our page of Non-native Reptiles and Amphibians Introduced Into California which includes some unconfirmed introduced species.
Snakes
Chilomeniscus stramineus - Variable Sandsnake	The strong possibility of this snake turning up in suitable habitat west of the Colorado River where it occurs in Arizona and Baja California, and undocumented reports of the snake in California, including personal communications with an amateur herpetologist who is experienced with the species who claims to have found it near the Algodones Dunes, have led me to include the snake as possibly occuring in Calfiornia.
Lizards
Callisaurus draconoides myurus - Northern Zebra-tailed Lizard	This subspecies of Callisaurus draconoides (which is not recognized by everyone) occurs in Nevada not far from the California border north of Honey Lake, where it might occur in washes along the border near Smoke Creek.
Plestiodon skiltonianus utahensis - Great Basin Skink	The range of this subspecies of Western Skink comes close to the border of California. Some herpers believe that the Great Basin Skink might occur in the state, but I am not aware of any evidence to confirm this.
Frogs
Bufo (=Anaxyrus) woodhousii australis - Southwestern Woodhouse's Toad	Some authors* show that the toads inhabiting the southern part of the state are this subspecies, not B. w. woodhousii, as we show on this web site, and they show that the toads inhabiting the area near the Nevada border are B. w. woodhousii. Old museum records that show subspecies list the southern populations as B. w. woodhousii, but some recent research analyzing advertisement call variation ** has indicated that the southern California toads are more closely related to those in south-central Arizona, which are B. w. australis. * Bartlett, R. D. & Patricia P. Bartlett. Guide and Reference to the Amphibians of Western North America (North of Mexico) and Hawaii. University Press of Florida, 2009. ** Brian K. Sullivan, Keith B. Malmos, Mac F. Given. Systematics of the Bufo woodhousii Complex (Anura: Bufonidae): Advertisement Call Variation. Copeia, Vol. 1996, No. 2 (May 16, 1996), pp. 274-280
Rumors, Unconfirmed Sightings, and Unsolved Mysteries These are some of the rumors that I have come across rearding new and undescribed herps from around the state or sightings of herps in areas where they are not known to occur. Some involve old discoveries that were never identified, others are just speculation about what should or could appear in a certain spot based on rumors of undocumented finds or hunches. Please email me if you know of any other interesting CA herp rumors.
Snakes
Charina umbratica - Southern Rubber Boa	There is a lot of speculation that this species should occur in the San Gabriel Mountains, since it occurs nearby in the San Bernardino Mountains and around Mt. Pinos, with a large gap inbetween. It is unlikely, since those mountains have been extensively surveyed, but since it was not until the early 1990's that a new species of salamander was discovered in several locations in the San Gabriels, there is a slim possibility that the boa is there but has gone undetected.
Lampropeltis zonata - California Mountain Kingsnake	Rumors and theories have been around for a while about a mountain kingsnake occurring in the White Mountains. In 2006 I heard that there were 3 specimens that looked like the Sierra Nevada subspecies, but I don't believe there has been anything published about this, so i'm keeping it as unconfirmed for now.
Salamanders
Aneides flavipunctatus - Speckled Black Salamander	Stebbins (2003) mentions a record from Feather River, Butte County that requires confirmation. Is it really a Black Salamander so far out of range; was the specimen incorrectly labelled; or is it a new species - maybe a new species of Hydromantes from a large gap in the distribution of that genus?
Ensatina eschscholtzii klauberi - Large-blotched Ensatina	No blotched Ensatina have been confirmed from a large part of the Transverse Ranges, but Stebbins mentions reliable sightings of blotched Ensatina reported from Coldbrook Campground below Crystal Lake and in the vicinity of Bouquet Reservoir in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Mystery Mount San Gorgonio Salamanders	Ensatina are known from mid elevations on Mt. San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino Mountains. According to Stebbins in his 1972 book on California herps, Ensatina have been found at 10,000 ft. on Mt. San Gorgonio. I have not been able to find a museum record for this and it is not mentioned again in Stebbins' 2003 field guide. It looks like he has retracted that Ensatina record. Furthermore, there are rumors that someone collected some brown salamanders from 10,000 ft. on Mt. San Gorgonio which are now lost. Attempts to go back to the location where he collected them have been unsuccessful. Maybe the salamanders he collected are the source of Stebbins' 10,000 ft. elevation record for the Ensatina. At any rate, the mystery of the salamanders high up on that mountain has not yet been solved.
Mystery White Mountains Blotched Salamander	Stebbins (2003) mentions an unconfirmed sight record for a blotched Ensatina in Perry Aiken Canyon on the east side of the White Mountains. It could be a Sierra Nevada Ensatina, or maybe a new Ensatina subspecies, or a new species of Batrachoseps, or even the Owens Valley Hydromantes. The mystery remains.
Frogs
Xenopus laevis sp.	There has been some speculation that more than one form of Xenopus laevis has been established in California. This has not been confirmed by molecular testing, and all Xenopus laevis found in California so far have been morphologically identical to X. l. laevis.

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Currently Undescribed California Reptiles and Amphibians and Species of Possible Occurance in California

Currently Undescribed California Reptiles and Amphibians
and
Species of Possible Occurance in California