Lungless salamander

Lungless salamander
Batrachoseps attenuatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Suborder:	Salamandroidea
Family:	Plethodontidae
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]

Subfamily	Genus, scientific name, and author	Common name	Species
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. 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)

External links

• AmphibiaWeb - Plethodontidae
• Tree of Life: Plethodontidae
• Caudata Culture Species Database - Plethodontidae