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PRINTER'S NO. 3500
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2328
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY REED, SAYLOR, GODSHALL, MEHAFFIE, JOZWIAK, BARBIN,
WARD, KINSEY, SCHWEYER AND GILLEN, MAY 3, 2018
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MAY 3, 2018
AN ACT
Designating Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei) as the
official State amphibian of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei) was first
discovered by Richard White Wehrle in the Two Lick Hills area
of Indiana County in 1911.
(2) Born in 1852 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wehrle was a
jeweler, businessman and naturalist who was known for
collecting specimens of fish, snakes, salamanders, insects
and turtles in Indiana County.
(3) Wehrle submitted the specimens to museums, including
over 700 specimens to the Academy of Natural Sciences and
over 500 specimens to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
(4) In 1912, Wehrle established the Boy's Naturalist
Club to provide outdoor experiences and education in natural
history for area boys.
(5) In 1917, Henry W. Fowler and Emmett Reid Dunn of the
Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia named a salamander that
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Wehrle had discovered in his honor.
(6) Wehrle's salamander, or Plethodon wehrlei, is a
bluish-black salamander with large, scattered white spots on
its back.
(7) Wehrle's salamander is found on forested hillsides
and in cave entrances throughout Appalachia.
(8) Upon his death in 1937, Wehrle's pallbearers
included all the men who had been members of the Boy's
Naturalist Club.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Official State amphibian.
Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei) is hereby designated
as the official State amphibian of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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