Molecular and historical evidence for the introduction of clouded salamanders (genusAneides) to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, from California

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Abstract
Genetic evidence shows that Vancouver Island populations of clouded salamanders (genus Aneides) are nearly identical with some California populations, in both allozymes and mitochondrial DNA. Historical evidence suggests that salamanders were introduced to Vancouver Island during the nineteenth century. They were probably included in shipments of tan oak bark from California. Tan oak bark was used extensively in the tanning of leather at that time. The introduction to Vancouver Island provides an opportunity to study environmental effects in a species that can not be easily studied on a short-term basis. The California and Canadian populations differ strikingly from Oregon populations of clouded salamanders and are described as a new species, Aneides vagrans.