The torrent salamanders or Cascade salamanders are a family (Rhyacotritonidae) with only one genus (Rhyacotriton) of salamanders. Originally the genus Rhyacotriton was placed in the family Ambystomatidae, later in the family Dicamptodontidae, and finally in 1992 it was placed into a family of its own. At the same time the only species Rhyacotriton olympicus was split into four species due to genetic analysis. The torrent salamanders are limited to the western USA, namely the states California, Oregon, and Washington.
The genus is divided into four species
- Cascade Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae)
- Columbia Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton kezeri)
- Olympic Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton olympicus)
- Southern Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton variegatus)
Famous quotes containing the word torrent:
“The flies swarmed on the putrid vulva, then
A black tumbling rout would seethe
Of maggots, thick like a torrent in a glen....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)