Relictual Slender Salamander

This salamander's range is on Breckenridge Mountain located on the western slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada, east of the lower Kern River canyon in Kern County. Much of what was formerly known as the relictual slender salamander is now attributed to the Greenhorn Mountains slender salamander (Batrachoseps altasierrae), the Fairview slender salamander (Batrachoseps bramei) and the Kern Plateau slender salamander (Batrachoseps robustus). Presently relictual slender salamanders exist at only two sites on Breckenridge Mountain separated by a mere three miles (4.8 km). This locale is south and west of the range of the Kern Canyon slender salamander (Batrachoseps simatus). The species formerly existed to the west in the lower Kern River Canyon (the location of the type locality), but these populations have all gone extinct for unknown reasons. Further down the Kern River Canyon, the Gregarious slender salamander (Batrachoseps gregarius) occurs. The relictual slender salamander's natural habitats are freshwater springs and riparian areas, interior chaparral and woodlands, and temperate coniferous forests.