Molecular Genetics and Natural History of the Southern Two-lined Salamander, Eurycea cirrigera, in Murphy Lake State Game Area, Tuscola County, Michigan

Murphy Lake State Game Area (MLSGA) in Tuscola County, Michigan, has recently become an area o f interest concerning native species and species that may have been introduced. MLSGA is an area o f habitat diversity that is surrounded by agricultural land. There are three species of reptiles and amphibians in Michigan known only to occur in MLSGA: the Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), the Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus), and the Southern Two-lined Salamander {Eurycea cirrigera). One theory o f how these animals arrived in Michigan is they dispersed north after the retreat of the glaciers, and later became isolated by roads and agriculture. The most recently discovered species o f MLSGA is the Southern Two-lined Salamander, found in 2008. In this study, natural history data were collected for this species. Phylogenetic analysis was also done to determine if the Southern Two-lined Salamander occurs in MLSGA naturally, dispersing north after the retreat of the glaciers, or if humans were most likely involved in the introduction o f this species. Although the phylogenetic results of this study were largely inconclusive, the data suggest that the population o f Southern Two-lined Salamanders in MLSGA is most likely introduced. However, because the results of this study were not definitive and there is no indication that the Southern Two-lined Salamander is harmful, the salamanders should be treated as if they are naturally occurring unless additional evidence demonstrates otherwise. Further investigation with a larger sample size and more sequence data might explain the anomalous results.Master of ScienceBiologyUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143263/1/Soderberg.pd