Like most of the slender salamanders (genus Batrachoseps), B. attenuatus is elongated and slender, with small, very short limbs and a long tail (1.5-2 times its snout-vent length). Each foot has 4 digits. Dark brown to blackish. Dorsal stripe of brick-red, brown, tan, buff, or yellow often present. Dark color on belly usually forms a fine, unbroken network. Underside of tail often lighter than belly and appears tinged with yellow from underlying fat deposits. Fine white speckling on ventral surfaces, including midline of tail. (Stebbins 1985; Petranka 1998).
As recently as 1954 all populations of Batrachoseps in California were assigned to this species, but on the basis of work by Brame and Murray (1968) and especially Yanev (1980), the range of the species has become increasingly restricted to northern California and the northern Sierra Nevada.
See another account at .
Rights Holder: AmphibiaWeb © 2000-2011 The Regents of the University of California
