Added 25 March 2003.

The Family Hynobiidae: Asian Salamanders

Genus Ranodon - Semirechensk Salmander

A small genus containing just two NE Asian species. A third species, R. wushanensis, became the sole member of the genus Liua on the basis of anatomical similarities to Batrachuperus, from which however it remained distinct due among other things to skeletal differences and a different number of toes. R. tsinpaensis may in fact belong to Pseudohynobius, which would leave Ranodon as a monotypic genus with the single species R. sibericus. The genus name literally means "frog tooth", a reference to the dentition of the species.

External characteristics of the genus are given by Zhao et al as follows: body large, tail flattened, about equal to body length; labial folds absent or inconspicuous; palms, soles, fingers and toes lack cornified coverings: tongue egg-shaped and broad; four fingers, five toes; gelatinous egg sac equal to or greater than adult total length, egg production low, egg size large, eggs arranged in one row or irregular sequence within the sac. Lungs are reduced. Lives in water during non-reproductive period.

R. sibiricus, Semirechensk Salamander

R. tsinpaensis

Scientific Name	Common Name	Distribution	Size	Notes
Ranodon
R. sibiricus	Semirechensk Salamander (D: Froschzahnmolch)	China (W Xinjiang), and SE Kazakhstan. in Siberia	25cm	Found mainly in the Ala-Tau mountains where it is found in small stony streams as far up as the treeline. The species is not a great swimmer but is capable of moving upstream quite quickly. Reproduction: the male determines the egg laying site and produces a spermatophore on which the female places the eggs.
R. tsinpaensis	??	China (S Shaanxi, E Sichuan, N Guizhou and W Hubei)		There may be some confusion about this species. Zhao and Adler note that this species was described by Liu and Hu in 1966 as R. tsinpaensis. Subsequently Hu and Fei redescribed the species described as H. flavomaculatus in 1982 and the species was then transferred to the new genus Pseudohynobius, which Zhao and Adler consider a synonym of Ranodon. No other information yet available. The picture in Zhao and Adler (plate 3D) depicts a dark brown salamander with what appears to be a laterally compressed tail and orange blotches on the dorsum and to a lesser degree on the sides.

Bibliography

Herpetology of China, Er-mi Zhao and Kraig Adler, SSAR, 1993. Catalogue of practically every reptile and amphibian species found in mainland China, Hongkong, Macao, Tibet and Taiwan. There are few details of the ecology of the animals, but readers are referred to a very comprehensive bibliography, and colour plates are provided for many of the creatures listed.

Studies on Chinese Salamanders, Er-mi Zhao, Qixiong Hu, Yaoming Zhang and Yuhua Yang, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 1988. Key English-language work on all the Caudata found in China.

Urania Tierreich: Fische, Lurche, Kriechtiere, Kurt Deckert et al, Urania-Verlag, Jena, Berlin 1991. Compact but useful overview of the "lower vertebrates" with descriptions of representative species.

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