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Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, excluding the amniotes. All extant (living) amphibians belong to the monophyletic subclass Lissamphibia, with three living orders: Anura (frogs), Urodela (salamanders), and Gymnophiona (caecilians). Evolved to be mostly semiaquatic, amphibians have adapted to inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living in freshwater, wetland or terrestrial ecosystems. Their life cycle typically starts out as aquatic larvae with gills known as tadpoles, but some species have developed behavioural adaptations to bypass this.
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 from the group Caudata. 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.
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 and Karsenia.
Temnospondyli or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent. A few species continued into the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, but all had gone extinct by the Late Cretaceous. During about 210 million years of evolutionary history, they adapted to a wide range of habitats, including freshwater, terrestrial, and even coastal marine environments. Their life history is well understood, with fossils known from the larval stage, metamorphosis and maturity. Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, although some were almost fully terrestrial, returning to the water only to breed. These temnospondyls were some of the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on land. Although temnospondyls are amphibians, many had characteristics such as scales and armour-like bony plates that distinguish them from the modern soft-bodied lissamphibians.
The San Marcos salamander is a small species of aquatic, lungless salamander native to the United States, endemic to Spring Lake and a small region of the headwaters of the San Marcos River near Aquarena Springs, in Hays County, Texas. It is one to two inches long, with a slender body and external gills, and is reddish-brown in color.
The Pyrenean brook salamander or Pyrenean newt, , is a largely aquatic species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is found in the Pyrenees of Andorra, France, and Spain. The IUCN lists it as least concern.
The seepage salamander is a small, terrestrial species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the United States. They are found in small areas of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs. It gets its name from the seepages around which it lives. It is very similar in its appearance and life history to the pygmy salamander. These two species differ greatly from the other Desmognathus species. They are the smallest salamanders in the genus, measuring only 3–5 cm (1–2 in) in length. They are also the only two terrestrial, direct-developing Desmognathus species. However, the two species are not often seen to coexist, differing in distribution by elevation; although there are exceptions. The seepage salamander is currently listed as Near Threatened, with its numbers declining in most of states in which it is found. It is threatened by habitat loss, with logging having a major effect.
Desmognathus fuscus is a species of amphibian in the family Plethodontidae. The species is commonly called the dusky salamander or northern dusky salamander to distinguish it from populations in the southern United States which form several distinct species, the southern dusky salamanders. The northern dusky salamander is the most widespread representative of its genus in Canada. It can be found in eastern North America from extreme eastern Canada in New Brunswick south to South Carolina. The size of the species' total population is unknown, but is assumed to easily exceed 100,000. The species' habitat differs somewhat geographically; dusky salamanders in the northern part of the range prefer rocky woodland streams, seepages, and springs, while those in the south favor floodplains, sloughs, and muddy places along upland streams. They are most common where water is running or trickling. They hide under various objects, such as leaves or rocks, either in or near water. Alternatively, they may enter burrows for protection. The dusky salamander lays its eggs close to water under moss or rocks, in logs, or in stream-bank cavities. The larval stage which follows is normally aquatic.
The ocoee salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. This salamander has a variety of colors and patterns, and got its name from Tennessee state wildflower. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater springs and wet rocks in mountainous areas of the Southeastern United States. It was first described by Nicholls in 1949. They are territorial and feed on small invertebrates. It is widely distributed in the southeastern United States and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Junaluska salamander is a species of lungless salamander native to the south-eastern United States. It was first described by David M. Sever, Harold M. Dundee, and Charles D. Sullivan who found the species in the range from the Cheoah River, Santeetlah Creek, and Tululah Creek in Graham County of North Carolina. Adults of this species can be found near large, rocky streams and on rainy nights on roads in the areas specified. The salamander is characterized by brownish-yellow coloration with a series of small dots along the body and a robust build compared to the other salamanders in Eurycea. The Junaluska salamander's breeding habits tend to be in large streams where the eggs are laid and attached to the bottom of rocks in the streams where they are found. According to the overall conservation listing for IUCN, this species is listed as Vulnerable. Conservation acts are important in both North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, since the population of this species in each state is so small.
The Blue Ridge two-lined salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the United States. This species is found in the southern Appalachian Mountains, mostly south of Virginia. To the north is a similar salamander, Eurycea bislineata, or the northern two-lined salamander. Its genus, Eurycea contains 33 species and includes taxa that have either a metamorphic life cycle or larval-form paedomorphosis. In species that metamorphose, there can be within-and among-population variation in larval life-history characteristics, e.g., duration of the larval period and size at metamorphosis. Intraspecific geographic variation in species of Eurycea has been attributed to several factors: temperature, stream order and productivity of the larval habitat.
Nototriton saslaya is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Nicaragua and known only from Cerro Sasalya and Cerro El Torro, both in the Saslaya National Park, north-central Nicaragua. Common name Saslaya moss salamander has been proposed for it.
The red-legged salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. Formerly considered a subspecies of Plethodon jordani, it is native to the mountain forests of the southeastern United States.
Weller's salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. This species in endemic to the southeastern mountain range of the United States. It is mainly found in North Carolina near Grandfather Mountain. The salamanders have a unique metallic spotting which distinguishes them from other Plethodon species and other salamanders in the area. They mainly inhabit cool forests with rocky areas.
The Yonahlossee salamander is a particularly large woodland salamander from the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The species is a member of the family Plethodontidae, which is characterized by being lungless and reproductive direct development. P. yonahlossee was first described in 1917 by E.R Dunn on a collection site on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. The common and specific name is of Native American origin, meaning “trail of the bear”. It is derived from Yonahlossee Road northeast of Linville, where the specimen was first described.
Pseudoeurycea amuzga, which has been given the common name of Sierra de Malinaltepec salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Mexico and known only from Sierra de Malinaltepec, a part of Sierra Madre del Sur in the state of Guerrero.
Thorius, also known as minute salamanders, pigmy salamanders, or Mexican pigmy salamanders, is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are endemic to Mexico and found in southern Veracruz and Puebla to Guerrero and Oaxaca.
David M. Sever is an American herpetologist, histologist, anatomist and reproductive biologist. He has been a professor and department head in the Department of Biological Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University since 2004, and held the Kenneth Dyson Endowed Professorship in Biological Sciences from 2012 to 2015. He is well known for over 30 years of research on the secondary sexual characteristics of salamanders and more generally on comparative histoanatomy of the urogenital systems of vertebrates. and was recognized as the 2013 Distinguished Herpetologist of the Year by the Herpetologists' League.
The Blacksburg salamander is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Southeastern United States, where it is restricted to a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia. Its common name refers the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, as many specimens were initially found in the vicinity of the town.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alejandro Ibáñez; Uwe Fritz; Markus Auer; Albert Martínez-Silvestre; Peter Praschag; Emilia Załugowicz; Dagmara Podkowa; Maciej Pabijan (May 17, 2021). "Evolutionary history of mental glands in turtles reveals a single origin in an aquatic ancestor and recurrent losses independent of macrohabitat". Scientific Reports (Full text). 11 (10396): 10396. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1110396I. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89520-w . PMC 8129087 . PMID 34001926. S2CID 234770430.
- 1 2 3 David M. Sever; Dustin S. Siegel; Michael S. Taylor; Christopher K. Beachy1 (March 17, 2016). "Phylogeny of Mental Glands, Revisited". Copeia (Full text). 104 (1): 83–93. doi:10.1643/CH-14-210. PMC 6054469 . PMID 30034038.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - 1 2 David M. Sever (January 18, 2016). "Ultrastructure of the mental gland of the Red-Backed Salamander, Plethodon cinereus (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)". Acta Zoologica (Abstract). 98 (2): 154–162. doi:10.1111/azo.12158 . Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ↑ Ariana E. Rupp; David M. Sever (February 14, 2017). "Histology of mental and caudal courtship glands in three genera of plethodontid salamanders (Amphibia: Plethodontidae)" (PDF). Acta Zoologica (Full text). 98 (2). Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: 154–162. doi:10.1111/azo.12188 . Retrieved July 5, 2022.
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