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Hypothesized speciation of the Tehachapi slender salamander: Batrachoseps stebbinsi
The understudied species Batrachoseps stebbinsi is found in small segregated populations in the Tehachapi and Piute mountains. Naturalists have observed that the Northern and Southern populations have notable size differences yet, to date, no formal analysis of range-wide morphological data has been published. However, high genetic differentiation between populations have been found (Jockusch and Wake 2002) suggesting that these populations could be two distinct species.
By taking measurements from preserved specimens, we aim to discover if there are proportional differences between populations and if the populations have differing minimum sizes of sexual maturity.
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