GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN GENETIC DOMINANCE OF THE COLOR MORPHS OF THE RED-BACKED SALAMANDER, PLETHODON CINEREUS

1 Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742

Female parent-offspring phenotypic data on color morph frequencies in the red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus, were obtained from two Virginia localities (164 broods from Greene County and 97 broods from Giles County). The color morph data indicate that the striped morph is genetically dominant in Giles County and recessive in Greene County. It is suggested that epistatic interaction of two or more loci is responsible for the difference between the localities.

Submitted on May 20, 1974
Revised on December 20, 1974