| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1978 |
| Authors: | Bruce, RC |
| Journal: | Herpetologica |
| Volume: | 34 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Date Published: | 1978 |
| ISBN Number: | 00180831 |
| Keywords: | Falco, Falco rusticolus, Falconidae |
| Abstract: | Two forms of the salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus inhabit the Cowee Mountains in Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties, North Carolina. A small morph, allied to populations in the adjacent Blue Ridge and Piedmont, occurs in the southeastern part of the Cowees, whereas a large morph, related to populations in the nearby Nantahala Mountains, occupies the northwest. There appears to be neither intergradation nor coexistence between the two where their distributions approach one another at Watauga Gap, about midway along the length of the main Cowee ridge. The pronounced differences in adult body size and fecundity between the 2 Cowee morphs result from a greater time required for attainment of maturity following metamorphosis in the northwestern populations. Such differences among populations in the Cowee and adjacent ranges are thought to represent adaptive responses related to the environmental history of the southern Blue Ridge Province. |
| URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/3891611 |
| Short Title: | Herpetologica |
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