Lungless salamander

Lungless salamander
Batrachoseps attenuatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Suborder: Salamandroidea
Family: Plethodontidae
Gray, 1850
Subgroups

Bolitoglossinae
Hemidactyliinae
Plethodontinae
†Palaeoplethodon
Spelerpinae

Native distribution of plethodontids (in green)

The Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. In terms of number of species, they are by far the largest group of salamanders.[1]

Biology

Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae preserved in amber

A number of features distinguish the plethodontids from other salamanders. Most significantly, they lack lungs, conducting respiration through their skin, and the tissues lining their mouths. Another distinctive feature is the presence of a vertical slit between the nostril and upper lip, known as the "nasolabial groove". The groove is lined with glands, and enhances the salamander's chemoreception.[1]

Adult lungless salamanders have four limbs, with four toes on the fore limbs, and usually with five on the hind limbs. Many species lack an aquatic larval stage. In many species, eggs are laid on land, and the young hatch already possessing an adult body form. Many species have a projectile tongue and hyoid apparatus, which they can fire almost a body length at high speed to capture prey.

Measured in individual numbers, they are very successful animals where they occur. In some places, they make up the dominant biomass of vertebrates.[2] An estimated 1.88 billion individuals of the southern redback salamander inhabit just one district of Mark Twain National Forest alone, about 1,400 tons of biomass.[3] Due to their modest size and low metabolism, they are able to feed on prey such as springtails, which are usually too small for other terrestrial vertebrates. This gives them access to a whole ecological niche with minimal competition from other groups.

Taxonomy

The family Plethodontidae consists of four subfamilies and about 380 species divided among these genera, making up the majority of known salamander species:[4]

SubfamilyGenus, scientific name, and authorCommon nameSpecies
Bolitoglossinae
Hallowell, 1856
Batrachoseps Bonaparte, 1839 Slender salamanders
19
Bolitoglossa Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 Tropical climbing salamanders
117
Bradytriton Wake & Elias, 1983 Finca Chiblac salamander
1
Chiropterotriton Taylor, 1944 Splay-foot salamanders
12
Cryptotriton García-París & Wake, 2000 Hidden salamanders
7
Dendrotriton Wake & Elias, 1983 Bromeliad salamanders
6
Nototriton Wake & Elias, 1983 Moss salamanders
13
Nyctanolis Elias & Wake, 1983 Long-limbed salamanders
1
Oedipina Keferstein, 1868 Worm salamanders
25
Parvimolge Taylor, 1944 Tropical dwarf salamanders
1
Pseudoeurycea Taylor, 1944 False brook salamanders
50
Thorius Cope, 1869 Minute salamanders
23
Hemidactyliinae
Hallowell, 1856 		Hemidactylium Tschudi, 1838 Four-toed salamander
1
Plethodontinae
Gray, 1850		 Aneides Baird, 1851 Climbing salamanders
6
Atylodes Gistel, 1868 Sardinian cave salamander
1
Desmognathus Baird, 1850 Dusky salamanders
20
Ensatina Gray, 1850 Ensatinas
1
Hydromantes Gistel, 1848 Web-toed salamanders
3
Karsenia Min, Yang, Bonett, Vieites, Brandon & Wake, 2005 Korean crevice salamanders
1
Phaeognathus Highton, 1961 Red Hills salamanders
1
Plethodon Tschudi, 1838 Slimy and mountain salamanders
55
Speleomantes Dubois, 1984 European cave salamanders
8
Spelerpinae
Cope, 1859		 Eurycea Rafinesque, 1822 North American brook salamanders
27
Gyrinophilus Cope, 1869 Spring salamanders
4
Pseudotriton Tschudi, 1838 Mud and red salamanders
3
Stereochilus Cope, 1869 Many-lined salamander
1
Urspelerpes[5] Camp, Peterman, Milanovich, Lamb, Maerz & Wake, 2009 Patch-nosed salamander
1

Following a major revision in 2006, the genus Haideotriton was found to be a synonym of Eurycea, while the genera Ixalotriton and Lineatriton were made synonyms of Pseudoeurycea.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Lanza, B., Vanni, S., & Nistri, A. (1998). Cogger, H.G. & Zweifel, R.G., ed. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
  2. ↑ Hairston, N.G., Sr. 1987. Community ecology and salamander guilds. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
  3. ↑ Salamanders a more abundant food source in forest ecosystems than previously thought
  4. ↑ Min, M.S., S. Y. Yang, R. M. Bonett, D. R. Vieites, R. A. Brandon & D. B. Wake. (2005). Discovery of the first Asian plethodontid salamander. Nature (435), 87-90 (5 May 2005)
  5. ↑ Camp, C. D.; et al. (2009). "A new genus and species of lungless salamander (family Plethodontidae) from the Appalachian highlands of the south-eastern United States". Journal of Zoology. 279: 1–9. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00593.x.
  6. ↑ Frost et al. 2006. THE AMPHIBIAN TREE OF LIFE (http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/5781/1/B297.pdf)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.