{{Short description|Species of amphibian}} {{Speciesbox | name = Taylor's salamander | status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group |date=2015 |title=''Ambystoma taylori'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T59070A176772315 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T59070A176772315.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> | image = Ambystoma taylori.jpeg | taxon = Ambystoma taylori | authority = [[Ronald A. Brandon|Brandon]], Maruska, and Rumph, 1982<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/> }}

'''Taylor's salamander''' ('''''Ambystoma taylori''''') is a species of salamander found only in [[Laguna Alchichica]], a high-altitude ({{convert|2290|m|abbr=on}} [[above sea level]]) crater lake to the southwest of [[Perote, Veracruz |Perote]], Mexico.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /><ref name=Frost/><ref name="Percino-Daniel et al. 2016"/> It was [[Species description|first described]] in 1982 but had been known to science prior to that.<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/><ref name=Frost/> It is a [[neoteny|neotenic]] salamander, breeding while still in the larval state and not undergoing [[metamorphosis]].<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/> The lake in which it lives is becoming increasingly saline and less suitable for the salamander, which is declining in numbers. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) has rated it as being "[[critically endangered]]".<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

==Taxonomy== It was described in 1982 by Brandon, Maruska, and Rumph,<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/> and named for [[Edward Harrison Taylor]] (1889–1978), an American herpetologist.<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/><ref name="Beolens et al. 2013"/> However, the species had been known to science long before then. Taylor himself attempted to describe the species as ''Ambystoma subsalsum'' in 1943,<ref name="Taylor 1943"/> but mistakenly used a Mexican or [[plateau tiger salamander]] as the [[holotype]]. This rendered the name invalid, and made it into a synonym for the tiger salamander.<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/><ref name=Frost/> <!-- James Anderson extensively catalogued "''A. subsalsum''" in his 1960's field work, applying the name to actual population that now comprises ''A. taylori.'' Reference???-->

==Ecology== This salamander is moderately sized, with most individuals measuring {{convert|70|mm|abbr=on}} being mature, while the largest one being {{convert|102|-|113|mm|abbr=on}} in snout–vent length.<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/> It is a neotenic species, which means it retains its caudal fin and [[external gills]] into adulthood, never undergoing complete [[metamorphosis]]. It is entirely aquatic, breeding and laying its eggs in the same lake where it lives.<ref name=EDGE/> Taylor's salamanders are pale yellowish in color, with dark spots along their dorsal sides.<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982"/> They have relatively short, thick external gill stalks. Their heads are quite large, and their limbs are underdeveloped, as in most ''Ambystoma'' neotenes. They feed by [[bucca (mythological creature)|bucca]]l suction, and are basically [[omnivore]]s.<ref name=EDGE/>

==Habitat== The ''A. taylori'' habitat in Lake Alchichica is brackish, with a [[salinity]] of {{convert|9.2|g/L|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Percino-Daniel et al. 2016"/> It is also very [[alkaline]], with a pH of 8.5–10. The lake's water has a temperature range of 18–21&nbsp;°C.<ref name=EDGE/> The salamanders typically hide below the water line, under overhangs in the crater's edge, and into the deep water.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /><ref name=EDGE/>

==Status== Lake Alchichica is becoming more saline as water is extracted for irrigation and drinking. The level of the lake has fallen and if this deterioration in water quality continues, this salamander is likely to become [[Extinction|extinct]]. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has assessed the salamander's conservation status as being "[[critically endangered]]" and has proposed that a [[captive breeding]] programme be established.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />

==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs= <ref name="Beolens et al. 2013">{{cite book |last1 = Beolens | first1 = Bo | last2 = Watkins | first2 = Michael | last3 = Grayson | first3 = Michael |title=The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZY3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT332 |date=2013 |publisher=Pelagic Publishing |isbn=978-1-907807-42-8 |pages=331–332}}</ref>

<ref name="Brandon et al. 1982">{{cite journal |last1=Brandon |first1=R. A. |last2=Maruska |first2=E. J. |last3=Rumph |first3=W. T. |year=1982 |orig-date=1981 |title=A new species of neotenic ''Ambystoma'' (Amphibia, Caudata) endemic to Laguna Alchichia, Puebla, Mexico |journal=Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences |volume=80 |pages=112–125 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/42445 }}</ref>

<ref name=EDGE>{{cite web |url=http://www.edgeofexistence.org/amphibians/species_info.php?id=559 |title=Taylor's Salamander (''Ambystoma taylori'') |work=EDGE of Existence programme (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species) |publisher=Zoological Society of London |access-date=19 March 2017}}</ref>

<ref name=Frost>{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Caudata/Ambystomatidae/Ambystoma/Ambystoma-taylori |title=''Ambystoma taylori'' Brandon, Maruska, and Rumph, 1982 |author=Frost, Darrel R. |year=2017 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=19 March 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Percino-Daniel et al. 2016">{{cite journal|last1=Percino-Daniel|first1=Ruth|last2=Recuero|first2=Ernesto|last3=Vázquez-Domínguez|first3=Ella|last4=Zamudio|first4=Kelly R.|last5=Parra-Olea|first5=Gabriela|title=All grown-up and nowhere to go: paedomorphosis and local adaptation in ''Ambystoma'' salamanders in the Cuenca Oriental of Mexico |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2016 |volume=118 |issue=3 |pages=582–597 |doi=10.1111/bij.12750|doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name="Taylor 1943">{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Edward H. |title=A new ambystomid salamander adapted to brackish water |journal=Copeia |date=1943 |volume=1943 |issue=3 |pages=151–156 |doi=10.2307/1438606|jstor=1438606 }}</ref> }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2512313}}

[[Category:Mole salamanders]] [[Category:Amphibians described in 1982]] [[Category:Endemic amphibians of Mexico]] [[Category:Fauna of Central Mexico]] [[Category:EDGE species]] [[Category:Oriental Basin]]