302 
NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS. 
Other Genera. 
originally the permanent condition of all members of the order, and that the 
salamander stage is a later development. 
There are six other genera, belonging to the subfamily Ambly- 
stomatince, of which Hypnobius is represented by several Japanese 
species. Salamandrella, distinguished by having only four hind - toes, is a 
Siberian type, with two species; Onychodactylus, which may be recognised by its 
black claws, is known by one species from Japan; while Ranidens, from Eastern 
Siberia and North-Eastern China, Batr achy perns from Moupin in Tibet, and the 
Californian Dicamptodon, all of which have the palatal teeth arranged in two 
arches, with their convexity forwards, and separated by a wide space in the 
middle, are likewise respectively represented by a single species. The two 
remaining subfamilies, which are exclusively American, can receive only very brief 
notice. In the first of these ( Plethodontince ) the series of palatal teeth is trans¬ 
verse and situated on the hinder part of the vomers; while there are also teeth on 
the parasphenoid bone; the bodies of the vertebras being cupped at both ends. Of 
the five genera, Plethodon, with the tongue attached along the middle line to the 
anterior margin, and five hind-toes, is North American, where it is represented by 
several species. On the other hand, the large genus Spelerpes, which has the 
tongue attached only by a central pedicle, and all its edges free, ranges into 
Central America and the West Indies. The fourth subfamily, Desmognathince, 
differing from the last by the bodies of the vertebrae being cupped behind and 
convex in front, is represented only by Desmognathus from North America 
generally, and Thorius with one Mexican species. 
The Fish-Like Salamanders. 
Family Amphiumidm. 
The members of this family, which, for want of a better name, may be 
collectively designated by a translation of their German title, fcschmolche, differ 
from the Salamandridce in the absence of eyelids. The bodies of their vertebrae 
are always cupped at both ends. They are all characterised by the weakness 
of the limbs in comparison to the body, and the wide separation of the front from 
the hinder pair. They live chiefly or entirely in the water, and breathe by means 
both of lungs and internal gills in the adult state. Only three genera are known, 
the first two of which are so closely allied that it is question whether they are 
really entitled to rank as distinct. 
Giant The earliest record that we have of this family is a skeleton 
Salamander, from the upper Miocene of Oeningen in Basle, described by Scheuchzer 
in the year 1726, under the name of homo diluvii testis; the learned doctor 
believing that he had to do with a human skeleton, which, like all fossils at that 
time, was considered to have been buried by the Noachian deluge. This fossil 
species, which was fully as large as the existing giant salamander, together with a 
smaller extinct species from lower Miocene strata near Bonn, probably belong to 
the same genus. The giant salamander ( Megalobatrachus maximus ) was first dis¬ 
covered in 1820 by Siebold in the rivers of Japan, but has been subsequently 
