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Plethodontidae
Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. With over 500 species, lungless salamanders are by far the largest family of salamanders in terms of their diversity. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil. Only two extant genera occur in the Eastern Hemisphere: '' Speleomantes'' (native to Sardinia and mainland Europe south of the Alps) and '' Karsenia'' (native to South Korea). Biology Adult lungless salamanders have four limbs, with four toes on the fore limbs, and usually with five on the hind limbs. Within many species, mating and reproduction occur solely on land. Accordingly, many species also lack an aquatic larval stage, a phenomenon known as direct development in which the offspring hatch as fully-formed, miniature adults. Direct development is correlated with changes in the developmental characteristics of plethodontids compared to other families of salamanders including increases in egg size and durat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamander In Amber
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela, the sole surviving order from the group Caudata. ''Urodela'' is a scientific Latin term based on the Ancient Greek : ourà dēlē "conspicuous tail". ''Caudata'' is the Latin for "tailed ones", from : "tail". Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders never have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isthmura Bellii
''Isthmura bellii'', commonly known as Bell's false brook salamander or Bell's salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Mexico and occurs mostly along the western and southern margins of the Mexican Plateau, with isolated populations elsewhere. Habitat Its natural habitats are pine and pine-oak forests at high elevation, as well as forest edges and grazed areas. It tolerates habitat modification and is also found in degraded forests, coffee plantations, rural gardens, and close to urbanized and highly disturbed areas. This terrestrial species is typically found beneath logs, rocks, waste timber, brush piles, and within leaf litter. Once common, this species has disappeared from many places. The reasons for this decline are unclear, although habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korean Crevice Salamander
The Korean crevice salamander (''Karsenia koreana'') is a species of lungless salamander. It dwells under rocks in limestone forest areas of the Korean peninsula. It was discovered by Stephen J. Karsen, an American science teacher working in Daejeon, South Korea, in 2003, and described in 2005. Although plethodontid salamanders comprise seventy percent of salamander species worldwide, ''Karsenia koreana'' is the first member of this taxon known from Asia. Like other plethodontids, it lacks lungs and breathes through its moist skin. It is the only species in the genus ''Karsenia''. Systematics and biogeography Cladistic analysis using Bayesian analysis of molecular data places ''Karsenia koreana'' as sister group to the clade containing ''Aneides'' and the desmognathine salamanders. This implies that plethodontid salamanders may have had a worldwide range 60 to 100 million years ago. As the global climate cooled, New World taxa thrived while Old World populations declined. Othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mental Gland
A mental gland is a part of the body found in many species of amphibians and reptiles. Mental glands produce chemicals that conspecific animals use to communicate. Location The mental glands appear in pairs, one on each side of the head. They are located behind the end of the mandible. Function Mental glands produce hormones that are secreted through the skin. The secretions from mental glands have been implicated in mate selection, species identification, and other functions. Scientists believe that the head bobbing behavior observed in turtles encountering another member of their own species may serve to disperse the chemicals from the mental glands through the air. Certain courtship behaviors observed in salamanders, such as snapping, only appear in salamanders that have mental glands, so scientists believe they are also meant to spread the chemicals through the air. Origins and evolution Not all reptiles and amphibians have mental glands. It is not unusual for some spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speleomantes
''Speleomantes'', or European cave salamanders, are a genus of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders. It is one of two genera in the family to inhabit the Old World (the other being ''Karsenia''), with the remaining 250 or so species being found in North, Central and South America. The genus is endemic to Italy and a few nearby areas (San Marino, Monaco, and eastern Provence). Characteristics Until recently, ''Speleomantes'' was combined with the web-toed salamander genus ''Hydromantes'' from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada range of California, which are their closest relatives, and are still combined by some herpetologists. They lack lungs; respiration takes place through the skin, which must be kept moist, and the lining of the mouth. The head is broad and distinct with prominent eyes. There are characteristic deep nasolabial grooves between the nostrils and the edge of the lips. The tongue has a broad tip and is extensible, being shot forward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphiumidae
''Amphiuma'' is a genus of aquatic salamanders from the United States, the only Extant taxon, extant genus within the family (biology), family Amphiumidae . They are colloquially known as amphiumas. They are also known to fishermen as "conger eels" or "Congo snakes", which are zoology, zoologically incorrect designations or misnomers, since amphiumas are actually salamanders (and thus amphibians), and not fish, nor reptiles and are not from Congo Basin, Congo. ''Amphiuma'' exhibits one of the largest complements of DNA in the living world, around 25 times more than a human. Taxonomy Numerous phylogenetic studies have indicated that amphiumas form a clade with the families Torrent salamander, Rhyacotritonidae (torrent salamanders) and Plethodontidae (lungless salamanders), with an especially close relationship to Plethodontidae. Despite this possible relationship, the two families must have still diverged very early on. The genus ''Proamphiuma'' from the Cretaceous is the earlies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Red-backed Salamander
The southern red-backed salamander (''Plethodon serratus'') is a species of salamander endemic to the United States. It is found in four widely disjunct populations: one in central Louisiana; one in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma; one in central Missouri; and one from southeastern Tennessee, to southwestern North Carolina, western Georgia, and eastern Alabama. It is sometimes referred to as the Georgia red-backed salamander or the Ouachita red-backed salamander. It was once considered a subspecies of the red-backed salamander, ''Plethodon cinereus''. Description The southern red-backed salamander is typically gray or black in color, with a red-brown, fading stripe across the width of its back. It grows from 8 to 11 cm (3 to 4 in) in length. Similar to ''Plethodon cinereus, Plethodon serratus'' comes in several atypical color variations. The typical red backed phase with a red dorsal stripe consists of most individuals. The atypical variations include a lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Slender Salamander
The California slender salamander (''Batrachoseps attenuatus'') is a lungless salamanderRobert C. Stebbins, Stebbins, Robert C. (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians'', 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California, United States as well as in a limited part of the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, California, in patches of the northern California Central Valley, Central Valley of California, and in extreme southwestern Oregon. This species resides primarily in a limited range within California as one of a handful quasi-endemic amphibians in the state. In 2001 Elizabeth Jockusch, Elizabeth L. Jockusch and David B. Wake, David Wake used genetic sequencing to find that the California slender salamander, the most common salamander in California, was in fact twenty separate species spread out along the coast from Oregon to Mexico. Presently, the California slender salam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaeoplethodon
''Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae'' is an extinct salamander species found in Miocene Dominican amber from the Dominican Republic. It is so far the only salamander species known to have existed in the Caribbean. Discovery and description The only known specimen was a juvenile found in an amber mine in the mountain range between Puerto Plata and Santiago. The amber itself was from the extinct legume species '' Hymenaea protera''. The salamander is missing its left front leg, implying possible predation. Its legs did not have any distinct toes, rather, it had complete webbing with small bumps on it. It most likely lived in small trees or in tropical flowers. It is unknown how this salamander's lineage arrived to the area, and how it became extinct. They may have arrived by a land bridge, or they may have ridden debris to the island. It is possible that their extinction was caused by climate change or by extensive predation. It is most likely a stem-group to the plethodontid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
