Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli Pyron & Beamer, 2022
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Desmognathus quadramaculatus (blackbelly salamander) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.
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Open encyclopedia reference
The Cherokee black-bellied salamander or Smoky Mountains black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli) is a species of lungless salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the eastern United States, where it is only known from the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is known from extreme western North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee. It is restricted mostly to the Great Smoky Mountains, with isolated records also known from the Unicoi, Great Balsam, and Bald Mountains. This is the more common of the two species of "blackbelly salamander" known from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This species and the other blackbelly salamander from the range (the Pisgah black-bellied salamander, D. mavrokoilus) are the first new vertebrate taxa to be discovered in the park's all-taxa biodiversity inventory. Initially grouped with the blackbelly salamander (D. quadramaculatus), a 2022 study found significant genetic divergence within the species, but also found that the name D. quadramaculatus had in fact been coined for the northern dusky salamander rather than the blackbelly salamander. The Smoky Mountains population was thus described as a new species, D. gvnigeusgwotli.
Wikipedia contributors, Cherokee black-bellied salamander; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T15:56:36.696305+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli Pyron & Beamer, 2022
- Name authority
- Pyron & Beamer, 2022
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Caudata
- Family
- Plethodontidae
- Genus
- Desmognathus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderCaudata
- familyPlethodontidae Gray, 1850
- subfamilyPlethodontinae Gray, 1850
- genusDesmognathus Baird, 1850
- speciesDesmognathus gvnigeusgwotli Pyron & Beamer, 2022
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Desmognathus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Apalachicola Dusky SalamanderDesmognathus apalachicolae Means & Karlin, 1989 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Imitator SalamanderDesmognathus imitator Dunn, 1927 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Shovel-nosed SalamanderDesmognathus marmoratus (Moore, 1899) | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Seal SalamanderDesmognathus monticola Dunn, 1916 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ocoee SalamanderDesmognathus ocoee Nicholls, 1949 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Flat-headed SalamanderDesmognathus planiceps Newman, 1955 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Valentine's Southern Dusky SalamanderDesmognathus valentinei Means, Lamb & Bernardo, 2017 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black Mountain SalamanderDesmognathus welteri Barbour, 1950 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Carolina Mountain Dusky SalamanderDesmognathus carolinensis Dunn, 1916 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desmognathus aureatus (Martof, 1956) | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desmognathus intermedius (Pope, 1928) | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desmognathus valtos Pyron & Beamer, 2022 | PlethodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1270090 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:V5DTJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.