<i>Pachyhynobius</i> or <i>Hynobius</i>?

[kenneth]

Does anyone, who has the "spotted" Pachyhynobius, happen to have a dead specimen? According to the paper sited by HouMian, it looks like the easiest way to tell P.shangchengensis from Hynobius yunanicus, or any other Hynobius, is from their vomerine teeth. The ones I am working with are very fat and healthy and I don't know if it is posible to check the vomerine teeth without breaking a jaw.}

 

[erik]

Kenneth,

I "had" some of the spotted ones. I say "had" because they eventually lose their spots and become regular old Pachyhynobius. The process of losing the spots took about a year. I think the spotting is just the juvenile coloration and the original description of Pachyhynobius mentions this.

I can't comment much on Hynobius yunanicus because I know almost nothing about them, but the spotted specimens I had at least turned out to be juvenile Pachyhynobius. I do seem to remember something about H.yunanicus being sympatric with Pachyhynobius which makes me wonder about the validity of the species....?????

Sorry I don't have any dead ones to check vomerine teeth. They are incredibly hardy animals

 

[houmian]

Erik£¬maybe you are right, the newly analyse of Gene result show us this two guy's kindred is nearly.The article is writing, wish publish in next year.