Rare, lungless ‘mascot of the mountains’ is in danger, scientists say. Here’s why

A rare lungless creature — speckled with yellow spots — breathes through its skin and lives in ancient rock faces of Appalachia in the southeastern U.S.

It’s a “mascot of the mountains” and at risk of becoming extinct, Will Harlan, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, told McClatchy News.

These Appalachian amphibians aren’t found beyond West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, where they only dwell in shale and sandstone rock outcrops, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a U.S. nonprofit working to protect species from extinction.

The yellow-spotted woodland salamander is in danger, and there’s likely only a few hundred left in the wild, the center wrote in a petition to list the critters under the Endangered Species Act.

This is because the salamanders’ unique home is a prime target for mountaintop removal mining — when mountains are blasted open by explosives to access underground coal formations, according to the center.

Now, a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could lead to federal protections for the yellow-spotted salamander, the center announced in a Jan. 24 news release.

The agency has decided that listing the creature, along with nine other species, under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted after reviewing multiple petitions, including the one filed by the center, according to Fish and Wildlife Service’s Jan. 24 news release.

“This decision is an important first step for these salamanders, which are one of the most endangered species on the planet,” Harlan said in a statement.

“Within a few decades or less, (the) species could blink out completely if it doesn’t receive federal protections,” he told McClatchy News.

A warning to sue over the salamander

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision comes days after the Center for Biological Diversity warned on Jan. 17 it planned to sue the agency in an effort to protect the yellow-spotted salamander.

Now, there’s no need to file a lawsuit since the agency has “finally acted,” Harlan said.

The center had filed a notice of its intent to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service because it hadn’t made a decision on the center’s August 2022 petition. It was supposed to do so within 90 days, according to the center.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Christine Schuldheisz told McClatchy News on Jan. 25 that the agency “strives to respond to petitions within 90 days, to the extent practicable.”

“I am thrilled that FWS issued these findings and we don’t need to sue,” Harlan said.

Salamander’s habitat is being destroyed

In the U.S., specifically in Appalachia, there are more salamander species than anywhere else across the globe, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.

With the region’s rivers and ancient mountains, “species have had a long time to diversify and find niches within different seeps and springs and watersheds,” Harlan said.

“It’s a really special place where the yellow-spotted woodland salamander lives,” he added.

The salamander — with its slender, purplish-brown body and spots leading down its back in two rows — lives far away from water in exposed rock outcrops, Harlan said.

It can also be found in trees surrounding rocks, according to Harlan. The yellow-spotted salamander is one of the few species of salamanders that are able to live in trees.

Not many salamanders “can survive in these kinds of conditions,” as several species rely on water or spend their lifespan near water, he explained.

The yellow-spotted salamander’s ability to live on land makes them unique, but they do require moisture, Harlan said.

“It can exist away from water but still needs a lot of humid, moist, lush, forested, shaded places,” he added.

Industrial activities, such as mining and logging, can directly and indirectly harm the salamander — including by exposing its habitat to extra sun, according to Harlan.

Sun exposure can dry them out, he said.

Since these salamanders are lungless and breathe through their skin, they need to be moist and cool, Harlan explained.

Two-thirds of all salamanders lack lungs and breathe in this way by absorbing oxygen, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

For the yellow-spotted salamander, protecting the levels of moisture and shade in its environment is “important for their survival,” Harlan said.

In the last 40 years, mountaintop removal mining has damaged its habitat in Appalachia, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. More than 500 mountains and 1.4 million acres of forests have been destroyed.

Will the salamander gain protections? Here’s what comes next

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has one year to determine whether to protect the yellow-spotted salamander, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

The agency will begin a status review and make “a finding on whether listing” the species under the Endangered Species Act “is warranted within one year,” Schuldheisz said.

When it comes to potentially filing a lawsuit to protect a species, Harlan told McClatchy News that the center has “unfortunately” had to do this in recent years.

This is because the Fish and Wildlife Service has moved “so slowly and their internal system for evaluating petitions is so broken,” he said.

It typically takes about 10 to 12 years for a species to get listed under the Endangered Species Act, according to Harlan.

He said the “listing process is significantly understaffed and underfunded.”

“Some species have gone extinct while waiting to be listed,” he added.

Listing the salamanders would ensure their core habitat, where they’re “still clinging to survival,” is protected, Harlan said.

Then, a recovery plan would be developed, he explained.

Another rare salamander — the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander that inhabits a river gorge in North Carolina — is another species the Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing for federal protections as of Jan. 24.

The center had also petitioned to list this salamander under the Endangered Species Act in June 2022. In its Jan. 17 notice of intent to sue over the yellow-spotted woodland salamander, the center also jointly warned to sue over this salamander.

Harlan said it’s important to protect salamanders because they help sustain their ecosystem and have medicinal and scientific value.

Salamanders have a “nifty little escape trick” — the ability to break off their tails to escape a predator and regrow their tails — that researchers are studying, he added.

The creatures can also regrow limbs, eye tissue and brain tissue — abilities that can be studied by scientists and help people “who have lost limbs or are battling Alzheimer’s disease,” according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

“Who knows what secrets and medical breakthroughs these and other salamanders may hold and what we could lose if we lose (them),” Harlan said.

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