Black-Lined Periwinkle vs Chunky False Brook Salamander

Littorina saxatilis compared with Aquiloeurycea cephalica

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black-Lined Periwinkle	Chunky False Brook Salamander
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Mollusca (Mollusks)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)	Amphibia (Amphibians)
Order	Littorinimorpha (Littorinimorpha)	Caudata (Caudata)
Family	Littorinidae	Plethodontidae
Genus	Littorina	Aquiloeurycea
Species	Littorina saxatilis	Aquiloeurycea cephalica

Evolutionary Relationship

Black-Lined Periwinkle and Chunky False Brook Salamander share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Black-Lined Periwinkle

LC — Least Concern

Chunky False Brook Salamander

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black-Lined Periwinkle	Chunky False Brook Salamander
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black-Lined Periwinkle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands and savannas, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Namibia, South Africa), Europe (5 countries), and North America (United States).

Chunky False Brook Salamander

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Mexico.

Black-Lined Periwinkle

The Black-Lined Periwinkle (Littorina saxatilis) is a species in the genus Littorina. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands and savannas, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Chunky False Brook Salamander

The Chunky False Brook Salamander (Aquiloeurycea cephalica) is a Least Concern plethodontid salamander endemic to Mexico, found in cloud forest and humid montane habitats in the Sierra Madre Oriental and related mountain ranges. The genus Aquiloeurycea is a recently erected Mexican endemic genus segregated from the broader genus Pseudoeurycea, comprising several small, robustly built (hence 'chunky') salamanders associated with high-elevation forests. Like all plethodontids, A. cephalica is a lungless salamander that breathes entirely through its moist, vascularized skin and the lining of its mouth. It is a direct developer, skipping the aquatic larval stage entirely and laying eggs in terrestrial microhabitats such as rotting logs, leaf litter, and soil. A. cephalica inhabits cool, humid forests of pine-oak and cloud forest zones in northern Mexico, where it forages for small invertebrates in the leaf litter and soil. The IUCN assesses it as Least Concern due to its reasonably wide distribution within its montane range. Deforestation, cattle grazing, and the conversion of cloud forest to agriculture represent ongoing threats to populations throughout its range.