Asiatic salamander


The Asiatic salamanders are primitive salamanders found all over Asia, and in European Russia. They are closely related to the giant salamanders, with which they form the suborder Cryptobranchoidea. About half of hynobiids currently described are unique to Japan.
Hynobiid salamanders practice external fertilization, or spawning. And, unlike other salamander families which reproduce internally, male hynobiids focus on egg sacs rather than females during breeding. The female lays two egg sacs at a time, each containing up to 70 eggs. Parental care is common.
A few species have very reduced lungs, or no lungs at all. Larvae can sometimes have reduced external gills if they live in cold and very oxygen-rich water.

Phylogeny

s based on the work of Pyron and Wiens and modified using Mikko Haaramo

Classification

Currently, 81 species are known. These genera make up the Hynobiidae:
Subfamily Hynobiinae
Subfamily Onychodactylinae