Abstract
Gompertz growth functions were fitted to skeletochronological data sets of three species of desmognathine salamanders from an assemblage (Wolf Creek) in the Cowee Mountains of southwestern North Carolina. The results were compared to earlier evaluations of growth in desmognathines from a nearby assemblage (Coweeta) in the Nantahala Mountains. In two of the species, Desmognathus quadramaculatus and D. monticola, larger adult body sizes were attained at Coweeta than at Wolf Creek, whereas adult body sizes of the third species, D. ocoee, were similar in the two populations. Growth in both standard length (snout–vent length) and body mass were evaluated. The early phases of growth, prior to sexual maturation, were similar in the larger D. quadramaculatus and the smaller D. monticola, and higher in both species than in the even smaller D. ocoee. In all three species, growth rates tended to be higher in the Coweeta populations than in those at Wolf Creek. The inflexions of the Gompertz curves for body mass vers...
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