Ambystoma andersoni

Krebs & Brandon, 1984 · species

image placeholder — illustration coming later

Animalia/Chordata/Amphibia/Caudata/Ambystomatidae/Ambystoma

At a glance

Occurrence records74

Data sources7

Biological traits10

DNA specimens12

eDNA detections0

Sources7 archives

Databases and archives Ambystoma andersoni's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility74 records↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics12 specimens↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗

Amphibian Species of the WorldAMNHamphibian catalog↗

On this page4 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements2 literature sources10 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF74 records

DNA & barcodingBOLD12 specimens

01Narrative

Anderson's salamander in Morelia Zoo. Anderson's salamander (Ambystoma andersoni) is a neotenic salamander from Zacapu Lagoon in the Mexican state of Michoacán. This salamander is a relatively recent discovery, first described by Branden and Krebs in 1984. Ambystoma andersoni is named after James Anderson, a herpetologist with the American Museum of Natural History, who did extensive fieldwork studying Ambystoma and other amphibians and reptiles in Mexico. Like all neotenic Ambystoma species, A. andersoni retains its larval features into adulthood. The mature salamander has medium-sized external gills with bright red filaments, and a prominent caudal fin. It has a large head and small limbs, as do the larvae. Its coloration is a strange pattern of black blotches on a red-brown base. The salamanders are totally aquatic and spend their whole lives in the same body of water.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesSeaLifeBaseAmphiBIO

Size & morphology1

SVL21.4 cm

Life cycle & reproduction3

Age at maturity max1 years

Age at maturity min1 years

Reproductive output1 /year

Habitat & environment3

Habitat aquaticyes

Habitat fossorialyes

Habitat freshwateryes

Other traits3

Offspring size max2.3 mm

Offspring size min2.2 mm

Repro larvalyes

05DNA & barcoding12 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Ambystoma andersoni has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens12

BINs1

Marker genes11

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

★COI-5PCOIICOXIIICYTBND1ND2ND3ND4ND4LND5-0ND6

animal barcodemitochondrial

07Deep time~3.39 Ma lineage

How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.

At a glance

DNA clock origin3.39 Ma TimeTree

When this lineage existed

How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.

DNA clock origin

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type74 records

Wild obs. + sensor9

Museum / vouchered65

Origin

Native2

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO16 km²

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy57% within 1 km

≤100 m 3≤1 km 1≤10 km 2>10 km 1

7 georeferenced · 2 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor9

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy100% within 1 km

≤100 m 27

27 georeferenced · 38 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence65

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions3 of 5 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
Washington, US	36
University of Texas at Arlingtonlocation not on record	20
Ann Arbor, US	6
Oregon State Universitylocation not on record	2
Berkeley, US	1

5 institutions · 65 of 65 vouchered records shown

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