Detecting cryptic species in phylogeographic studies: Speciation in the California Slender Salamander, Batrachoseps attenuatus

A study of DNA sequence variation in the plethodontid salamander Batrachoseps attenuatus by Martínez-Solano et al. (2007) revealed more species than acknowledged by the authors. They sequenced 677 base pairs of the cytochrome-b mitochondrial gene in 178 individuals from 123 populations of the currently recognized species B. attenuatus from throughout most of its known range in southwestern Oregon and northern and central California. Their data show that the common ancestor of the species diverged into five clades during the late Miocene Epoch, an estimated 9.2-5.5 mya, with subsequent divergences producing at least 39 living lineages that replace each other geographically. These groups have been diverging independently from each other throughout the Pleistocene Epoch and many of them have probably reached the species level of divergence.