Salamandridae

salamandra salamandra salamandra
Salamandra Salamandra

The family Salamandridae is the second biggest family of newts and salamanders.

Currently, it is formed by 21 genus with 120 species, split between three sub-families:

  • Pleurodelinae, formed by 100 species in 16 genus
  • Salamandrinae, formed by 16 species in 4 genus
  • Salamandrininae, formed by 2 species in 1 genus

The family is distributed across the northern hemisphere, with the majority of species living in Europe and Asia. They have small to medium sized bodies, and most species have toxic skin secretions. Many of the species breed in water, with the males developing crests or tail fins during the period. The fertilisation is internal, with the males releasing a spermatophore, which the female takes through often complex courtship dances.

Salamandridae are known for having a high morphological variability and a broad spectrum of breeding habits, which has sparked plenty of studies on the evolutionary relationships among the species in the last century.

Below we have one of the most recent evolutionary trees, but this is likely to be further modified in the future.

Salamandridae Evolutionary Tree

Species List

Subfamily Pleurodelinae (100 species)

Genus Calotriton (2 species)

Calotriton arnoldi
Calotriton asper

Genus Cynops (9 species)

Cynops chenggongensis
Cynops cyanurus
Cynops ensicauda
Cynops fudingensis
Cynops glaucus

Cynops orientalis
Cynops orphicus
Cynops pyrrhogaster
Cynops wolterstorffi

Genus Echinotriton (3 species)

Echinotriton andersoni
Echinotriton chinhaiensis

Echinotriton maxiquadratus

Genus Euproctus (2 species)

Euproctus montanus
Euproctus platycephalus

Genus Ichthyosaura (1 species)

Ichthyosaura alpestris

Genus Laotriton (1 species)

Laotriton laoensis

Genus Lissotriton (9 species)

Lissotriton boscai
Lissotriton graecus
Lissotriton helveticus
Lissotriton italicus
Lissotriton kosswigi

Lissotriton lantzi
Lissotriton montandoni
Lissotriton schmidtleri
Lissotriton vulgaris

Genus Neurergus (4 species)

Neurergus crocatus
Neurergus derjugini

Neurergus kaiseri
Neurergus strauchii

Genus Notophthalmus (3 species)

Notophthalmus meridionalis
Notophthalmus perstriatus

Genus Ommatotriton (3 species)

Ommatotriton nesterovi
Ommatotriton ophryticus

Ommatotriton vittatus

Genus Pachytriton (10 species)

Pachytriton airobranchiatus
Pachytriton archospotus
Pachytriton brevipes
Pachytriton changi
Pachytriton feii

Pachytriton granulosus
Pachytriton inexpectatus
Pachytriton moi
Pachytriton wuguanfui
Pachytriton xanthospilos

Genus Paramesotriton (14 species)

Paramesotriton aurantius
Paramesotriton caudopunctatus
Paramesotriton chinensis
Paramesotriton deloustali
Paramesotriton fuzhongensis
Paramesotriton guangxiensis
Paramesotriton hongkongensis

Paramesotriton labiatus
Paramesotriton longliensis
Paramesotriton maolanensis
Paramesotriton qixilingensis
Paramesotriton wulingensis
Paramesotriton yunwuensis
Paramesotriton zhijinensis

Genus Pleurodeles (3 species)

Pleurodeles nebulosus
Pleurodeles poireti

Pleurodeles waltl

Genus Taricha (4 species)

Taricha granulosa
Taricha rivularis

Taricha sierrae
Taricha torosa

Genus Triturus (9 species)

Triturus anatolicus
Triturus carnifex
Triturus cristatus
Triturus dobrogicus
Triturus ivanbureschi

Triturus karelinii
Triturus macedonicus
Triturus marmoratus
Triturus pygmaeus

Genus Tylototriton (25 species)

Tylototriton anguliceps
Tylototriton himalayanus
Tylototriton kachinorum
Tylototriton kweichowensis
Tylototriton ngarsuensis
Tylototriton podichthys
Tylototriton pseudoverrucosus
Tylototriton shanjing
Tylototriton shanorum
Tylototriton taliangensis
Tylototriton uyenoi
Tylototriton verrucosus
Tylototriton yangi

Tylototriton anhuiensis
Tylototriton asperrimus
Tylototriton broadoridgus
Tylototriton dabienicus
Tylototriton hainanensis
Tylototriton liuyangensis
Tylototriton lizhengchangi
Tylototriton notialis
Tylototriton panhai
Tylototriton vietnamensis
Tylototriton wenxianensis
Tylototriton ziegleri

Subfamily Salamandrinae (18 species)

Genus Chioglossa (1 species)

Chioglossa lusitanica

Genus Lyciasalamandra (10 species)

Lyciasalamandra antalyana
Lyciasalamandra arikani
Lyciasalamandra atifi
Lyciasalamandra billae
Lyciasalamandra fazilae

Lyciasalamandra flavimembris
Lyciasalamandra helverseni
Lyciasalamandra irfani
Lyciasalamandra luschani
Lyciasalamandra yehudahi

Genus Mertensiella (1 species)

Mertensiella caucasica

Genus Salamandra (6 species)

Salamandra algira
Salamandra atra
Salamandra corsica

Salamandra infraimmaculata
Salamandra lanzai
Salamandra salamandra

Subfamily Salamandrininae (2 species)

Genus Salamandrina (2 species)

Salamandrina perspicillata
Salamandrina terdigitata

References

Citation: Veith M, Bogaerts S, Pasmans F, Kieren S (2018) The changing views on the evolutionary relationships of extant Salamandridae (Amphibia: Urodela). PLoS ONE 13(8): e0198237. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198237

Citation: AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. 2018. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: https://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: 2018).