Looks something like this!
Posted on 06/29/2005 9:24:22 AM PDT by GreenFreeper
The eight salamanders found on the site of the new Ann Arbor high school are not endangered Smallmouth Salamanders [Ambystoma texanum] as originally thought. Instead, they are hybrids, part Blue-spotted Salamander [Ambystoma laterale] and part Jefferson Salamander [Ambystoma jeffersonianum], said James Ball, a York Township research scientist in herpetology who did some of the testing on the amphibians.
Neither the Blue-spotted nor the Jefferson Salamander are on the threatened and endangered species list in Michigan, and hybrid salamanders do not qualify as threatened or endangered in the state, either.
District officials, who learned of the salamanders' lineage on June 8, won't alter their plans to create two new ponds and improve other ponds on the site, said district spokeswoman Liz Margolis. She said the district had always intended to treat the salamanders as if they were an endangered species although there was a possibility they were not. That was part of the district's agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which this spring approved the district's elaborate wetland mitigation plan and granted district officials a permit to handle and move the suspected Smallmouths.
Todd Hogrefe, endangered species coordinator in the Wildlife Division of the DNR, said the district and the DNR agreed early on to err on the side of caution by assuming the salamanders found on the Maple Road site were Smallmouths. The recent finding on the salamanders' Jefferson and Blue-spotted lineage "is a very mysterious and interesting result for us," he said. Jefferson Salamanders, while found in parts of the Midwest, are not usually found in Michigan because the state is north of their range, he said.
Initially, seven salamanders thought to be Smallmouths were caught in the district's early collection efforts in April. An eighth salamander similar in appearance to the other seven was discovered later and included among the suspected Smallmouths, said Margolis. Except for two sent to Canada for testing, the salamanders have been living at the Detroit Zoo. The suspected Smallmouths were the reason for a lawsuit filed against the Ann Arbor Public Schools in late April by a group of neighbors concerned the new high school would destroy natural habitat. The group dropped its suit in late May, about two weeks after a Washtenaw County Circuit Court judge denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented clearing work at the site.
Even before the supposed Smallmouths were discovered, the district had pledged to collect and relocate the frogs, salamanders and other animals living in a pond on the site to a new pond they are constructing on the northeast side of the site. District officials had budgeted $100,000 for that project, but do not expect to use the full amount, said Margolis.
After the supposed smallmouths were found and additional provisions were added to the wetland mitigation plan, the district budgeted an additional $100,000 for the project, said Margolis. The additions included a new vernal pond in the oak-hickory woodlot on the site and improvements to two existing ponds in the woodlot. Margolis said district officials again don't expect to use the entire $100,000 budgeted for the additional provisions, but don't yet have a final tally of what's been spent.
Ball, who is a scientist at Ford Motor Company during the day, said he suggested testing the eight salamanders to determine their species and Hogrefe and the City of Ann Arbor herpetologist agreed. First, a veterinarian at the Detroit Zoo drew blood from large veins in the backs of the eight salamanders, said Ball. Ball then examined the red blood cells in the sample. He said the size of the cells indicated that the eight salamanders were hybrids, but the test was inconclusive. Ball then shipped two of the eight salamanders via Federal Express to a professor friend at the University of Guelph, in Guelph, Ontario, for further testing. The two salamanders were alive during the shipping, but had to be killed for the additional tests, he said.
The professor, James Bogart, conducted what's called allozyme analysis on the two animals to determine the salamander species that provided their chromosomes. Bogart found that of the salamanders' three sets of chromosomes, two sets were derived from Jefferson Salamanders and one set was derived from Blue-spotted Salamanders, Ball said. What's unclear is where the salamanders' Jefferson lineage comes from, Ball said. It's possible any purebred Jefferson Salamanders were lost from the site years ago, he said.
Clearing work at the new high school site is currently under way. Construction of the new vernal pond in the woodlot is complete and construction of the new pond on the northeast side of the site is near completion. Construction of the building will begin late this summer, with the new school scheduled to open in the fall of 2007.
Looks something like this!
Sure glad to know I'm not endangered!
Eco-ping
Somebody should mate some of these hybrids and prove whether or not A. laterale and A. jeffersonianum are separate species at all.
Where do they keep the batteries?
Well, that sounds a little too challenging for these herpetologists (A small-mouth should have been easily determined with a few key measurements). A. jeffersonianum hybrid complexes are very common in the region and should have been suspected from the get-go. Some are able to mate, others aren't.
If you haven't read Gould's Wonderful Life, I recommend it. The issue there revolves around how life's variations confound the boundaries of phyla as well.
When God told Adam to go out and name everything, He was really messing with his head. :--)
Another victory for the school lunch program!
What taxonomic system? Have we come to a consenus without me knowing, lol! If you haven't read Gould's Wonderful Life, I recommend it. The issue there revolves around how life's variations confound the boundaries of phyla as well
Have only read excerpts...though was very engaging. Another to add to my endless list of reads.
What - Axolotl pudding again? uck!!
(if you're not an old Mad Magazine reader, this may mean nothing to you ;o)
After college I went into the Air Force, 1965. I had caught the antiquing bug and discoverd what my comics were worth. I was home on leave and went looking for my stash. Dad had cleaned the attic and threw out all my comics because I was grown up and that stuff was kiddo material!
Remember Joe Argh!
So....can Muttly have the non-endangered hybrid salamanders...
...................pllleeeeeaaase.????!!!!!!!
Muttly, but I thought you have everything you need outside of that sandwhich?
Salamander sandwich !!!!!!!!!!1
"!!!!...1"
Ooops. Got excited.
Of course not. It's extortion, and somebody's cousin, nephew, brother in law, etc is probably already counting on the money.
It would be funny were it only a matter of curiosity and science. The potential to take property in the name of protecting "species" has turned such "name calling" into a matter of economic life and death, not to mention a crucial life and death issue for the creatures involved.
sure but they are infected with chrytidofungi!
So...some vegetables make for an even yummier Salamander Sammich !
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