| Torrent salamanders | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Rhyacotriton variegatus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Suborder: | Salamandroidea |
| Family: | Rhyacotritonidae Tihen, 1958 |
| Genus: | Rhyacotriton Dunn, 1920 |
| Species | |
| Rhyacotriton cascadae (blue) | |
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The torrent salamanders or Cascade salamanders are a family of salamanders (Rhyacotritonidae) with only one genus, Rhyacotriton. The torrent salamanders are endemic to the United States in the Pacific Northwest (including northwestern California).[1]
Species
The genus Rhyacotriton includes four species:
- Cascade torrent salamander (R. cascadae)
- Columbia torrent salamander (R. kezeri)
- Olympic torrent salamander (R. olympicus)
- Southern torrent salamander (R. variegatus)
Taxonomy
Originally the genus Rhyacotriton was placed in the family Ambystomatidae, later in the family Dicamptodontidae, and finally in 1992 it was placed into a family of its own. At the same time the only species Rhyacotriton olympicus was split into four species due to genetic analysis.