Anderson's crocodile newt

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Anderson's crocodile newt
Echinotriton andersoni by OpenCage.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Urodela
Family: Salamandridae
Genus: Echinotriton
Species:
E. andersoni
Binomial name
Echinotriton andersoni
(Boulenger, 1892)
Synonyms

Tylototriton andersoniBoulenger, 1892

Anderson's crocodile newt, Anderson's newt, Ryukyu spiny newt, or Japanese warty newt (Echinotriton andersoni) is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae found in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and, at least formerly, Mount Guanyin in northern Taiwan, where it is now believed to be extinct. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Description

Echinotriton andersoni is a stout, flat salamander. Head is broad and triangular in shape. There are 12–15 conspicuous knob-like lateral glands. Colouration is uniformly dark brown or black, only the underside of the tail, cloacal region, and the soles of the feet are yellow-orange. The maximum size is at least 80 mm (3.1 in) in snout–vent length and 169 mm (6.7 in) in total length. [3]

Habitat and distribution

Its natural habitats are broad-leaved evergreen forests, secondary forests, grasslands and swamps. It has also been found in and near sugar cane fields. It breeds in standing water such as ponds and temporary pools; [1] outside breeding season it is difficult to observe as adult salamanders live in leaf litter, in rocky crevices, and under rocks and logs. [3]

Anderson’s crocodile newt is distributed across five of the central Ryukyu Islands: Okinawajima, Sesokojima, and Tokashikijima of the Okinawa group, and Amami-o-shima and Tokunoshima of the Amami group (although sightings on the latter group appear to be rare or nonexistent). [4] [5]

Behaviour

This species breeds from February to July, with activity peaking from March to May. The female lays her small clutch of eggs in leaf litter, humus soil, or beneath small objects like leaves or rocks; usually not further than a metre or two away from a body of still water. The later age hatch after 22–27 days, and after another 2–3 months they metamorphose into their terrestrial adult forms. [6] [7] [8]

Conservation

Echinotriton andersoni is uncommon, and it is threatened by habitat loss and by collection for illegal pet trade. [1] Paved roads with roadside gutters are reportedly leading to large numbers of these newts ending up as roadkill. [9]

Venomous

Echinotriton andersoni protects itself from predators through the uncommon ability to use their ribs to envenomate the threat. This is done by the ribs puncturing through their epidermis and lateral granular glands, which produce tetrodotoxin and piercing the threat. The mechanisms that are used for this method of protection are unusual due to their lack of muscular attachment at the ends of their ribs and the concentration of the granular glands. Occasionally their glands can appear as a lighter color than the surrounding area, hypothesized to be due to higher concentration of the tetrodotoxin in the area around their glands. [10] [11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2021). "Echinotriton andersoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021 e.T59446A63869090. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T59446A63869090.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2014). "Echinotriton andersoni (Boulenger, 1892)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Sparreboom, Max; Wu, Yunke. "Echinotriton andersoni (Boulenger, 1892)". Salamanders of China LifeDesk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Hayashi, Terutake; Matsui, Masafumi; Utsunomiya, Taeko; Tanaka, Satoshi; Ota, Hidetoshi (1992). "Allozyme Variation in the Newt Tylototriton andersoni from Three Islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago". Herpetologica. 48 (2): 178–184. ISSN   0018-0831.
  5. ↑ "Anderson's Crocodile Newt (Echinotriton andersoni)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
  6. ↑ Utsunomiya, Yasuaki; Utsunomiya, Taeko; Kawachi, Shoshichi (1978). "Some Ecological Observations of Tylototriton andersoni, a Terrestrial Salamander Occurring in the Tokunoshima Island". Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B. 54 (7): 341–346. doi:10.2183/pjab.54.341.
  7. ↑ "AmphibiaWeb - Echinotriton andersoni". amphibiaweb.org. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
  8. ↑ "IUCN Red List - Echinotriton andersoni".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "Review of Existing Measures to Reduce Roadkills and Future Approach" (PDF). kyushu.env.go.jp.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ Spicer, M. M., Stokes, A. N., Chapman, T. L., Brodie, E. D., Jr, Brodie, E. D., 3rd, & Gall, B. G. (2018). An Investigation into Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Levels Associated with the Red Dorsal Spots in Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) Efts and Adults. Journal of toxicology, 2018, 9196865. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9196865
  11. ↑ Nussbaum, R. A., & Brodie, E. D. (1982). Partitioning of the Salamandrid Genus Tylototriton Anderson (Amphibia: Caudata) with a Description of a New Genus. Herpetologica, 38(2), 320–332. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3892334
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