Andrias
Genus of amphibians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrias is a genus of giant salamanders. It includes the largest salamanders in the world, with A. japonicus reaching a length of 1.44 metres (4 ft 9 in), and A. sligoi reaching 1.80 metres (5 ft 11 in). While extant species are known only from East Asia, several extinct species in the genus are known from late Oligocene and Neogene aged fossils collected in Europe and North America, indicating that the genus formerly had a much wider range.[1]
| Andrias Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Andrias japonicus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Urodela |
| Family: | Cryptobranchidae |
| Genus: | Andrias Tschudi, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Andrias japonicus Temminck, 1836 | |
| Species | |
|
7 (including 2 extinct), see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Megalobatrachus | |
Taxonomy
The generic name derives from Ancient Greek ἀνδριάς, "statue". The former name was Megalobatrachus, from Ancient Greek meaning "giant frog".
Phylogeny
This phylogeny is based on Chai et al (2022).[2] and Vasilyan et al (2013)[3]
| Andrias |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alternative phylogeny by Fang et al (2018).[4]
| Andrias |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Species
Extant species
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrias cheni | Qimen giant salamander | Eastern China (Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province) | |
 | Andrias davidianus | Chinese giant salamander | Central China (traditionally considered widespread in the country, but likely restricted to Yangtze River basin), introduced to Kyoto Prefecture, Japan[5] |
 | Andrias japonicus | Japanese giant salamander | Southern Japan (southern Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku) |
 |
Andrias jiangxiensis | Jiangxi giant salamander | Eastern China (Jiangxi Province) |
 | Andrias sligoi | South China giant salamander | Southern China (Pearl River basin) |
Based on genetic evidence, there may be more extant species in the genus. A study in 2018 found that A. davidianus sensu lato was a species complex that consisted of at least five different species.[6] A. sligoi, which was formerly synonymized with A. davidianus, was revived in 2019 for one of these populations. Another one of these was described as A. jiangxiensis in 2022, and another as A. cheni in 2023.[7][8][9]
Fossil species
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
†Andrias matthewi | Matthew's giant salamander | United States and Canada | early-middle Miocene |
 |
†Andrias scheuchzeri | Central Europe, possibly Central Asia and Western Siberia | late Oligocene-late Pliocene |