Actual transverse newts
| Actual transverse newts | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern tiger salamander ( Ambystoma tigrinum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Ambystomatidae | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray , 1850 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Ambystoma | ||||||||||||
| Tschudi , 1838 |
The authentics cross tooth newts ( Ambystoma ), also Breitkopf cross tooth newts or Breitkopf salamander called, the only genus in the family are Ambystomatidae the salamanders . They are widespread in North and Central America from Southeast Alaska via Mexico to northern Colombia. Of the 32 or 33 species currently differentiated within the genus, 16 occur in Mexico, 15 in the USA , seven in Canada and one in Colombia. The variety of shapes in the Mexican highlands is particularly large in a relatively small space. Due to habitat destruction , however, many species in Mexico are endangered.
features
The group is named after the arrangement of the palatal teeth in transverse rows. Mostly they are small to medium-sized (approx. 10 to 30, exceptionally also up to 38 centimeters long), plump, strong, broad-headed salamanders with a trunk segmented by rib furrows. They usually live on land and only need a body of water for reproduction and larval development. The spotted cross-toothed newt (also: spotted salamander ; Ambystoma maculatum ) is externally very similar to the European fire salamander ( Salamandra salamandra ). However, several species, including the well-known axolotl ( Ambystoma mexicanum ), tend to neoteny : Some larval features persist beyond sexual maturity and they lead a purely aquatic life as newts.
Reproduction
In order to reproduce, almost all species migrate to bodies of water in order to find a sexual partner there, carry out indirect internal fertilization by transferring a spermatophore and finally leave gelatinous eggs behind. The only exception is the marble cross-toothed newt ( Ambystoma opacum ), in which mating and oviposition take place on land; the female then guards the eggs until it rains, which flood the hollows in the ground with the clutches. The gill-breathing larvae usually spend several weeks or months in the water until the metamorphosis to land animals begins - if this transformation takes place at all (see above). Also of note is the brackish cross-toothed newt ( Ambystoma taylori ), which has become very rare and only lives and reproduces in the salty Alchichica Lake in Mexico.
Taxonomy
In older systematic reviews, the family Ambystomatidae is divided into three subfamilies. The giant transverse newts (Dicamptodontidae) and Rhyacotritonidae are now considered to be independent families. Within the former subfamily Ambystomatinae, after the customary here systematics only a genus Ambystoma , differentiated. Alternatively, some authors assign the giant transverse newts (genus Dicamptodon ) to the Ambystomatidae family. The occasional spelling "Amblystoma" is based on a historical spelling mistake. In the German trivial names, the suffix “-Querzahnmolch” or “-Salamander” is used (for example “Western Tiger Querzahnmander” or “Western Tiger Salamander”).
The following species are assigned to the genus:
- Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895
- Ambystoma amblycephalum Taylor, 1940
- Ambystoma andersoni Krebs & Brandon, 1984 - Anderson transverse newt
- Ambystoma annulatum Cope, 1886 - Ringlet cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma barbouri Kraus & Petranka, 1989
- Ambystoma bishopi Goin, 1950
- Ambystoma bombypellum Taylor, 1940
- Ambystoma californiense Gray, 1853 - California tiger cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma cingulatum Cope, 1868 - Carried transverse newt
- Ambystoma dumerilii (Dugès, 1870) - Dumeril's cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma flavipiperatum Dixon, 1963
- Ambystoma gracile (Baird, 1859) - Northwestern transverse newt
- Ambystoma granulosum Taylor, 1944
- Ambystoma jeffersonianum (Green, 1827) - Jefferson transverse newt
- Ambystoma laterale Hallowell, 1856 - Blue-spotted cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma leorae (Taylor, 1943)
- Ambystoma lermaense (Taylor, 1940) - Lerma cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma mabeei Bishop, 1928 - Mabees cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma macrodactylum Baird, 1850 - Long-toe cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma maculatum (Shaw, 1802) - spotted transverse newt
- Ambystoma mavortium (Baird, 1850) - Western tiger cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma mexicanum (Shaw & Nodder, 1798) - Axolotl
- Ambystoma opacum ( Gravenhorst , 1807) - Marble cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma ordinarium Taylor, 1940
- Ambystoma rivulare (Taylor, 1940)
- Ambystoma rosaceum Taylor, 1941 - Chihuahua cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma silvense Webb, 2004
- Ambystoma talpoideum (Holbrook, 1838) - Mole cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma taylori Brandon, Maruska & Rumph, 1982 - Brackish cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma texanum ( Matthes , 1855) - Narrow-headed cross-tooth newt
- Ambystoma tigrinum (Green, 1825) - (Eastern) tiger cross-toothed newt
- Ambystoma velasci (Dugès, 1888) - Mexican cross-toothed tiger newt
literature
- Günther E. Freytag, Bernhard Grzimek, Oskar Kuhn & Erich Thenius (eds.): Lurche. In: Grzimek's animal life. Vol. 5: Fish 2, amphibians. Licensed edition in dtv, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-423-03204-9
- Kurt Rimpp: Salamanders and Newts. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-8001-7045-0
- Joseph A. Tihen: Ambystoma In: The Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles. The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1969, pp. 75.1-75.4
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of species of the Ambystomatidae family in Amphibiaweb
- ↑ AMNH: Amphibian Species of the World
