A Substrate-Driven Plasticity Hypothesis for the Monterey Ensatina Salamander (Ensatina eschscholtzii)

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. You must log in to post a comment. There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. Add a Comment You must log in to post a comment. Comments There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. Abstract.—Phenotypic plasticity allows many amphibians, including several salamander species, to adjust skin luminance in response to background brightness. In habitats with heterogeneous substrates in color and brightness, such plasticity may generate substantial individual variation within a population. In a population of the terrestrial salamander Ensatina eschscholtzii, a recent study documented an unusually high frequency of atypical light phenotypes characterized by pink and orange dorsal coloration. This population occurs in a site dominated by extensive light-colored dune sand, suggesting a potential environmental influence on apparent coloration. We propose that substrate-driven plasticity may shift the apparent luminance of typical individuals toward lighter phenotypes in this species, and predict that this response occurs primarily in juveniles and diminishes through ontogeny. https://doi.org/10.32942/X2DH3N Behavior and Ethology Ensatina eschscholtzii, plethodontid salamander, Amphibian coloration, background matching, color change, phenotypic plasticity, Terrestrial salamander, ontogeny, MONTEREY ENSATINA Published: 2026-04-30 11:48 Last Updated: 2026-04-30 11:48 CC BY Attribution 4.0 International Language: English