Description

A moderate-sized slender salamander identified by having four digits on the hind limb and having a relatively broad and well demarcated head, long limbs and large hands and feet, and a tapering tail. The species has a distinctive color pattern consisting of bright coppery markings arranged as a pair of parallel streaks over the shoulders and in the pelvic region and spots or blotches on the tail. The ground color is black and the venter of the trunk is shiny dark black with a few small, widely scattered, indistinct white spots that are absent along the midline. The tail is shorter and less cylindrical than is typical of nearby and sympatric (Batrachoseps nigriventris) species.

This species has no close relatives. Data from allozymes and mitochondrial DNA sequences have been interpreted as indicating that the species has been separated from other species in the subgenus Batrachoseps for on the order of 8 to 13 million years.

See another account at californiaherps.com.