Andrias Explained

Andrias is a genus of giant salamanders. It includes the largest salamanders in the world, with A. japonicus reaching a length of 1.44m (04.72feet), and A. sligoi reaching 1.8m (05.9feet). While extant species are only known 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]

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] Alternative phylogeny by Fang et al (2018).^[4]

Species

Extant species

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Andrias cheni	Qimen giant salamander	Eastern China (Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province)
	Andrias davidianus		Central China (traditionally considered widespread in the country, but likely restricted to Yangtze River basin), introduced to Kyoto Prefecture, Japan^[5]
	Andrias japonicus		Southern Japan (southern Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku)
	Andrias jiangxiensis	Jiangxi giant salamander	Eastern China (Jiangxi Province)
	Andrias sligoi		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 5 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

References

• AmphibiaWeb - Andrias japonicus. Accessed 2008-04-08.
• AmphibiaWeb - Andrias davidianus. Accessed 2008-04-08.
• Amphibian Species of the World 5.1. Accessed 2008-04-10.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fossilworks: Andrias. fossilworks.org. 17 December 2021.
2. Chai . Jing . Lu . Chen-Qi . Yi . Mu-Rong . Dai . Nian-Hua . Weng . Xiao-Dong . Di . Ming-Xiao . Peng . Yong . Tang . Yong . Shan . Qing-Hua . Wang . Kai . Liu . Huan-Zhang . 2022-05-18 . Discovery of a wild, genetically pure Chinese giant salamander creates new conservation opportunities . Zoological Research . en . 43 . 3 . 469–480 . 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.101 . 2095-8137 . 9113980 . 35514224.
3. Vasilyan . D. . Böhme . M. . Chkhikvadze . V. M. . Semenov . Y. A. . Joyce . W. G. . 2013 . A new giant salamander (Urodela, Pancryptobrancha) from the Miocene of Eastern Europe (Grytsiv, Ukraine) . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 33 . 2 . 301 . 10.1080/02724634.2013.722151 . 85930910.
4. Yan . Fang . Lü . Jingcai . Zhang . Baolin . Yuan . Zhiyong . Zhao . Haipeng . Huang . Song . Wei . Gang . Mi . Xue . Zou . Dahu . 2018 . The Chinese giant salamander exemplifies the hidden extinction of cryptic species . Current Biology . 28 . 10 . R590–R592 . 10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.004 . 0960-9822 . 29787716 . free.
5. Nishikawa . Kanto . Matsui . Masafumi . Yoshikawa . Natsuhiko . Tominaga . Atsushi . Eto . Koshiro . Fukuyama . Ibuki . Fukutani . Kazumi . Matsubara . Kohei . Hattori . Yasunari . Iwato . Shohei . Sato . Tsukasa . Shimizu . Zenkichi . Onuma . Hirokazu . Hara . Sotaro . 2024-01-31 . Discovery of ex situ individuals of Andrias sligoi, an extremely endangered species and one of the largest amphibians worldwide . Scientific Reports . en . 14 . 1 . 2575 . 10.1038/s41598-024-52907-6 . 2045-2322. 2433/286948 . free .
6. Web site: 5 Giant Salamander Species Identified—And They're All in Danger. https://web.archive.org/web/20180530040436/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/chinese-giant-salamander-species-animals/. dead. May 30, 2018. 2018-05-29. National Geographic News. 2018-12-24.
7. Turvey. Samuel T.. Marr. Melissa M.. Barnes. Ian. Brace. Selina. Tapley. Benjamin. Murphy. Robert W.. Zhao. Ermi. Cunningham. Andrew A.. Historical museum collections clarify the evolutionary history of cryptic species radiation in the world's largest amphibians. Ecology and Evolution. en. 18. 10070–10084. 10.1002/ece3.5257. 31624538. 6787787. 2045-7758. 2019. 9.
8. Chai . Jing . Lu . Chen-Qi . Yi . Mu-Rong . Dai . Nian-Hua . Weng . Xiao-Dong . Di . Ming-Xiao . Peng . Yong . Tang . Yong . Shan . Qing-Hua . Wang . Kai . Liu . Huan-Zhang . 2022-05-18 . Discovery of a wild, genetically pure Chinese giant salamander creates new conservation opportunities . Zoological Research . en . 43 . 3 . 469–480 . 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.101 . 2095-8137 . 9113980 . 35514224.
9. Web site: Frost . Darrell . Andrias cheni Xu, Gong, Li, Jiang, Huang, and Huang, 2023 . Amphibian Species of the World 6.2, an Online Reference.