Molecular Identification of an Avian Predator of Mimetic Salamanders

Todd W. Pierson^1,*, Jasmyne Blake-Sinclair¹, and Benjamin Holt²

¹Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30314. ²Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 21, Issue 2 (2022): N24–N31

Abstract
Natural field observations of salamander predation are uncommon, in some cases limiting the ability of scientists to study the evolution of toxicity, aposematism, and mimicry in these amphibians. Here, we document field observations of recently depredated salamanders: 1 Pseudotriton ruber (Red Salamander) and 2 Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Spring Salamander), members of a putative Müllerian mimetic complex involving Notophthalmus viridescens (Eastern Newt). We used molecular methods to identify the likely avian predator of the Spring Salamanders and underscore the opportunities for future research enabled by the pairing of traditional natural history with modern molecular techniques.

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