''Chiropterotriton'', also known as splayfoot salamanders or flat-footed salamanders, is a genus of

salamander 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 t ...

s in the family

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 B ...

. The genus is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. ''Chiropterotriton'' are widely distributed in northern and eastern Mexico. They are an ecologically diverse group, occupying a range of habitats, including cloud forests, pine-oak forests, oak forests, and caves. They may be found in various microhabitats, such as arboreal

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

s, rock crevices, caves, and terrestrial cover objects. Most species are superficially similar in their appearance, making species delimitation by purely morphological means difficult. However, molecular methods have aided description of new species.

Species

As of early 2019, this genus includes the following 18 species:

References

{{Authority control Endemic amphibians of Mexico Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor Amphibian genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot