Editing Salamander (section)

==Distribution and habitat==

Salamanders split off from the other amphibians during the mid- to late Permian, and initially were similar to modern members of the [[Cryptobranchoidea]]. Their resemblance to [[lizard]]s is the result of [[symplesiomorphy]], their common retention of the primitive tetrapod body plan, but they are no more closely related to lizards than they are to mammals. Their nearest relatives are the frogs and toads, within [[Batrachia]]. 

The oldest known total-group ([[Caudata]]) salamander is ''[[Triassurus]]'' from the Triassic of [[Kyrgyzstan]].<ref name=Schoch2020>{{cite journal |last1=Schoch |first1=Rainer R. |last2=Werneburg |first2=Ralf |last3=Voigt |first3=Sebastian |title=A Triassic stem-salamander from Kyrgyzstan and the origin of salamanders |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=2020 |volume=117 |issue=21 |pages=11584–11588 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2001424117|pmid=32393623 |pmc=7261083 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11711584S |doi-access=free }}</ref> Further salamander fossils are known from the Middle [[Jurassic]] of [[England]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Evans | first1 = S. E. | last2 = Milner | first2 = A. R. | last3 = Mussett | first3 = F. | year = 1988 | title = The earliest known salamanders (Amphibia, Caudata): a record from the Middle Jurassic of England | journal = Geobios | volume = 21 | issue = 5| pages = 539–552 | doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(88)80069-x | bibcode = 1988Geobi..21..539E }}</ref>  [[Scotland]],<ref name="Jonesetal2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Marc E. H. |last2=Benson |first2=Roger B. J. |last3=Skutschas |first3=Pavel |last4=Hill |first4=Lucy |last5=Panciroli |first5=Elsa |last6=Schmitt |first6=Armin D. |last7=Walsh |first7=Stig A. |last8=Evans |first8=Susan E. |date=2022-07-11 |title=Middle Jurassic fossils document an early stage in salamander evolution |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=119 |issue=30 |pages=e2114100119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2114100119 |issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free |pmid=35858401 |pmc=9335269 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11914100J }}</ref> [[China]],<ref name="gao&shubin2012">{{cite journal|author1=Gao, Ke-Qin |author2=Shubin, Neil H. |doi=10.1073/pnas.1009828109 |title=Late Jurassic salamandroid from western Liaoning, China |year=2012 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=109 |issue=15 |pages=5767–5772 |pmid=22411790 |pmc=3326464|bibcode=2012PNAS..109.5767G |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[Kazakhstan]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Marjanovic | first1 = D. | last2 = Laurin | first2 = M. | year = 2014 | title = An updated paleontological timetree of lissamphibians, with comments on the anatomy of Jurassic crown-group salamanders (Urodela) | journal = Historical Biology | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 535–550 | doi = 10.1080/08912963.2013.797972| bibcode = 2014HBio...26..535M | s2cid = 84581331 }}</ref> The oldest known crown-group salamander ([[Urodela]]) remains uncertain but recent analyses suggest it is ''[[Valdotriton]]'' from the Late [[Jurassic]] of [[Spain]].<ref name=Jonesetal2022/>

Salamanders are found only in the [[Holarctic]] and [[Neotropical]] regions, not reaching south of the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the [[Himalayas]], or in [[South America]] the [[Amazon Basin]]. They do not extend north of the Arctic [[tree line]], with the northernmost Asian species, ''[[Salamandrella keyserlingii]]'', which can survive long-term freezing at −55 °C,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shekhovtsov |first1=Sergei V. |last2=Bulakhova |first2=Nina A. |last3=Tsentalovich |first3=Yuri P. |last4=Zelentsova |first4=Ekaterina A. |last5=Meshcheryakova |first5=Ekaterina N. |last6=Poluboyarova |first6=Tatiana V. |last7=Berman |first7=Daniil I. |date=2021-11-12 |title=Biochemical Response to Freezing in the Siberian Salamander Salamandrella keyserlingii |journal=Biology |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=1172 |doi=10.3390/biology10111172 |doi-access=free |pmc=8614755 |pmid=34827165}}</ref> occurring in the [[Siberian larch]] forests of [[Sakha Republic|Sakha]] and the most northerly species in North America, ''[[Ambystoma laterale]]'', reaching no farther north than [[Labrador]] and ''[[Taricha granulosa]]'' not beyond the [[Alaska Panhandle]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians |last=Wells |first=Kentwood D. |year=2007 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-89334-1 |page=130 }}</ref> They had an exclusively [[Laurasia]]n distribution until ''[[Bolitoglossa]]'' invaded South America from Central America, probably by the start of the [[Early Miocene]], about 23 million years ago.<ref name="Elmer2013">{{cite journal|last1=Elmer|first1=K. R.|last2=Bonett|first2=R. M.|last3=Wake|first3=D. B.|last4=Lougheed|first4=S. C.|title=Early Miocene origin and cryptic diversification of South American salamanders|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume=13|issue=1|date=2013-03-04|pages=59|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-59|pmid=23497060|pmc=3602097 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013BMCEE..13...59E }}</ref> They also lived on the [[Caribbean Islands]] during the early [[Miocene]] epoch, confirmed by the discovery of ''[[Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/aug/first-ever-discovery-salamander-amber-sheds-light-evolution-caribbean-islands|title=First-ever discovery of a salamander in amber sheds light on evolution of Caribbean islands {{!}} News and Research Communications {{!}} Oregon State University|website=oregonstate.edu|access-date=2016-03-25|date=2015-08-17|archive-date=2017-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219132815/http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/aug/first-ever-discovery-salamander-amber-sheds-light-evolution-caribbean-islands|url-status=live}}</ref> found trapped in [[amber]] in the [[Dominican Republic]]. Vertebrae fossils recovered from the [[Murgon fossil site]] have been tentatively attributed to that of a Salamander,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boles |first=W. E. |year=1997 |title=Fossil songbirds (Passeriformes) from the early Eocene of Australia |journal=[[Emu (journal)|Emu]] |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=43–50 |doi=10.1071/MU97004 |bibcode=1997EmuAO..97...43B |issn=0158-4197}}</ref> though its true identity is disputed. If the vertebrae truly belong to a Salamander, they would represent the only Salamanders in [[Australia]].

There are about 760 living species of salamander.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://amphibiaweb.org/amphibian/speciesnums.html |title=Species by number |publisher=AmphibiaWeb |access-date=2021-01-11 |archive-date=2021-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112181312/https://amphibiaweb.org/amphibian/speciesnums.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Naish2013>{{cite news |title=The amazing world of salamanders |author=Naish, Darren |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/10/01/amazing-world-of-salamanders/ |newspaper=Scientific American |date=2013-10-01 |access-date=2014-01-14 |archive-date=2014-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116082325/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/10/01/amazing-world-of-salamanders/ |url-status=live }}</ref> One-third of the known salamander species are found in North America. The highest concentration of these is found in the Appalachian Mountains region, where the Plethodontidae are thought to have originated in mountain streams. Here, vegetation zones and proximity to water are of greater importance than altitude. Only species that adopted a more terrestrial mode of life have been able to disperse to other localities. The [[northern slimy salamander]] (''Plethodon glutinosus'') has a wide range and occupies a habitat similar to that of the [[southern gray-cheeked salamander]] (''Plethodon metcalfi''). The latter is restricted to the slightly cooler and wetter conditions in north-facing [[Cove (Appalachian Mountains)|cove forests]] in the southern Appalachians, and to higher elevations above 900&nbsp;m (3,000&nbsp;ft), while the former is more adaptable, and would be perfectly able to inhabit these locations, but some unknown factor seems to prevent the two species from co-existing.<ref name=Hairston/>

One species, the [[Anderson's salamander]], is one of the few species of living amphibians to occur in brackish or salt water.<ref>Brad Shaffer; Oscar Flores-Villela; Gabriela Parra-Olea; David Wake (2004). "Ambystoma andersoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature</ref>