Onychodactylus tsukubaensis
| Onychodactylus tsukubaensis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Onychodactylus tsukubaensis | ||||||||||||
| Yoshikawa & Matsui , 2013 |
Onychodactylus tsukubaensis is a tailed amphibian from the family of angular newts .
description
Onychodactylus tsukubaensis is a medium-sized Onychodactylus species. The body is comparatively thick. There are clearly delineated, bright dorsal bands. The number of vertebrae from the atlas to anterior to the sacrum is usually 18. There are 12 rib furrows . The right and left rows of the palatal teeth run continuously without any gaps. Each row usually consists of 15 to 18 teeth. The tail is relatively short and in males as long or slightly longer than the head-trunk length, in females it is shorter. Even in the larval stage, the tail of this species is short.
Occurrence and behavior
So far, Onychodactylus tsukubaensis is only known from eastern Japan . The species occurs here on the mountains Tsukuba , Kaba , Ashio , Kinoko , Tsubakuro of the Tsukuba Mountains of the Ibaraki Prefecture . The northernmost known occurrence is on the Tsubakuro, the southernmost on the southern slopes of the Tsukuba. The known vertical distribution ranges from 350 to 871 meters above sea level (at Tsubukura).
The species lives in cool, humid wooded mountains. On the Tsukuba and Kaba they reproduce in underground springs. These are located at altitudes of around 550 to 700 meters above sea level. The water flow and the temperature of 7.9 to 9.5 ° C are stable all year round. The breeding season is believed to be from late May to mid-June. In February and March, young animals with a total length of about 35 millimeters should appear. These live in the rivers for about 3 years, after which the metamorphosis takes place from July to October with a total length of about 80 millimeters .
Systematics
Onychodactylus tsukubaensis was first described by Natsuhiko Yoshikawa and Masafumi Matsui in 2013. It belongs to the Onychodactylus japonicus species complex. The specific epithet tsukubaensis is derived from Mount Tsukuba. This mountain is both the type locality of the species and the highest mountain in the Tsukuba Mountains where the species occurs.