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Lead-Phase And Red-Stripe Color Morphs Of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) Differ In Hematological Stress Indices: A Consequence Of Differential Predation Pressure?, Andrew Davis, Joseph Milanovich
Lead-Phase And Red-Stripe Color Morphs Of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) Differ In Hematological Stress Indices: A Consequence Of Differential Predation Pressure?, Andrew Davis, Joseph Milanovich
Joseph Milanovich
Throughout the animal kingdom there are species that have two or more phenotypic forms or ‘morphs’, and many of these are amphibians. In North America, the red-backed salamander Plethodon cinereus can have either a red dorsal stripe or no dorsal stripe (lead-phase form), and evidence to date indicates the lead-phase form incurs a greater number of attacks from predators. In a recent collection of 51 P. cinereus, blood smears of both color morphs (35 red-stripe, 16 lead-phase) were examined to obtain numbers of circulating leukocytes (via light microscopy), which can be used to indirectly estimate levels of stress hormones in …