biology

West Virginia spring salamander

West Virginia spring salamander is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand West Virginia spring salamander rather than just read about it. In short: The West Virginia spring salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus) is a species of troglobitic salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to West Virginia, the United States.

Key takeaways

West Virginia spring salamander belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect West Virginia spring salamander to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of West Virginia spring salamander from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The West Virginia spring salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus) is a species of troglobitic salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to West Virginia, the United States. The salamander is only found in the General Davis Cave in Greenbrier County and lives in cave stream passages with large amounts of decaying organic matter. It is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is under review for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. General Davis Cave forms part of the 4.4-square-mile (11 km2) Davis Hollow drainage basin, itself part of the Greenbrier River watershed. A conservation easement for this cave has been purchased by The Nature Conservancy and it is closed to the public in order to protect this salamander and a small bat colony. Like the western grotto salamander (Eurycea spelaea), the West Virginia spring salamander can undergo complete metamorphosis, which is very rare among cave salamanders. It is not known how often metamorphosis occurs, but when it does, it happens after the larvae have reached a very large size. The IUCN estimates that fewer than 250 individuals of this species remain as of 2021. Possible future threats to the West Virginia spring salamander include development of the groundwater recharge area, interaction with spring salamanders (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) and the potential for introduction of salamander chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans) from Europe to the Americas.

References

Citations

Further reading Salamanders of West Virginia by Thomas Pauley Culver, David. C, Kane, Thomas C, Fong, Daniel. 1995. Harvard University Press. "Adaptation and Natural Selection in Caves," the Evolution of Gammarus minus" ISBN 0-674-00425-6 Jones, William K. Karst Waters Institute. 1997. "Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia" ISBN 0-9640258-3-3

External links The Greenbrier River Watershed Association — for more information about the karstic biota of the region. The Nature Conservancy in West Virginia Archived 2010-12-09 at the Wayback Machine West Virginia Cave Conservancy A 501(c)3 Nonprofit dedicated to acquiring caves and the conservation and protection of caves within West Virginia. National Speleological Society — promoting interest in and to advance in any and all ways the study and science of speleology, the protection of caves and their natural contents, and to promote fellowship among those interested therein.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with West Virginia spring salamander

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what West Virginia spring salamander claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to West Virginia spring salamander before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about West Virginia spring salamander ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of West Virginia spring salamander

In research: West Virginia spring salamander appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses West Virginia spring salamander in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: West Virginia spring salamander is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibians described in 1977, Cave salamanders, Ecology of the Appalachian Mountains, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for West Virginia spring salamander outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “West Virginia spring salamander” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study West Virginia spring salamander in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what West Virginia spring salamander means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain West Virginia spring salamander out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is West Virginia spring salamander in simple terms?

The West Virginia spring salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus) is a species of troglobitic salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to West Virginia, the United States.

Why does West Virginia spring salamander matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study West Virginia spring salamander?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on West Virginia spring salamander.