Salamandra talpoidea Holbrook, 1838b:117

Pyron, R. Alexander & Beamer, David A., 2022, A nomenclatural and taxonomic review of the salamanders (Urodela) from Holbrook’s North American Herpetology, Zootaxa 5134 (2), pp. 151-196 : 165

Salamandra talpoidea Holbrook, 1838b:117 , pl. 29

Holbrook (1838b) gave the brief original description of the Mole Salamander ( Ambystoma talpoideum ), which he noted is only known from one locality on “the sea islands on the borders of South Carolina , where it was discovered by Mr. Burden, one of my pupils.” Holbrook implied that he knows it only from a single specimen and recorded its habit of burrowing like a mole in loose soil, hence the Latin name referencing the European mole genus Talpa Linnaeus, 1758 . This is presumably the individual illustrated by C. Rogers. No specimens of Mole Salamander were located among any of Holbrook’s extant collections. He also noted that it “bears a strong resemblance to the Salamandra atra [= Salamandra atra Laurenti, 1768 ] of Austria.” Holbrook (1842e:73, pl. 24) enlarged the description, but did not report any additional localities or specimens. For illustration, he included a more life-like lithograph from J. Queen. From the “General Remarks,” he removed the reference to S. atra Laurenti, 1768 , and added instead an explicit reference to the mole genus Talpa Linnaeus, 1758 lacking in the first edition. He also added a note that “it is curious that this animal has the teeth and tail of a Triton , and yet has never been seen in water, but always on land.”