Genus account
Onychodactylus Tschudi, 1839
The hynobiid genus Onychodactylus comprises two closely related species. Elongate salamanders, with a long tail, cylindrical at the base and more compressed at the end. Lungs lacking. Five toes, with distinct blackish cornified claws in adults and developed larvae. Tongue large and subcircular, free on the sides. Large premaxillary fontanelle. Vomerine teeth in a two-arch-shaped continuous series. Short gelatinous egg sac and prominent male secondary sexual characters (Zhao & Hu, 1988). Recent molecular work suggests that both O. fischeri and O. japonicus comprise several cryptic species (Yoshikawa et al., 2008).
Onychodactylus fischeri (Boulenger, 1886)
Onychodactylus japonicus (Houttuyn, 1782)
References
Yoshikawa, N., Matsui, M., Nishikawa, K., Kim, J. & Kryukov, A. (2008). "Phylogenetic Relationships and Biogeography of the Japanese Clawed Salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus (Amphibia: Caudata: Hynobiidae) and its Congener Inferred from the Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 49: 249-259.
Zhao, E. & Hu, Q., (1988). “Studies on Chinese Tailed Amphibians.” Pp. 1-48 in: Zhao, E., Hu, Q., Jiang, Y. & Yang, Y. Studies on Chinese Salamanders. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Friday, April 6, 2012