A new species of lotic breeding salamander (Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae) from Shikoku, Japan.

Background: is a lotic-breeding salamander endemic to Shikoku Island in western Japan. Significant allozymic and morphological differences have been found among the populations of this species; however, the degree and pattern of intraspecific variation have not been surveyed using a sufficient number of samples.

Methods: For the taxonomic revision of , we conducted genetic and morphological surveys using samples collected throughout the distribution.

Wide Distribution but Low Differentiation: Phylogenetic Relationships and Phylogeography of (Amphibia: Caudata).

We surveyed the genetic structure of Stejneger, 1907, a lentic breeding salamander widespread throughout montane and lowland regions of northeastern Japan. We performed a mitochondrial DNA analysis to explore intraspecific genetic variation and infer the evolutionary population history of . Complete 1141 bp sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome gene were studied for 134 adult and larval individuals collected from 62 localities, encompassing the known range of the species.

A revision of Hynobius stejnegeri, a lotic breeding salamander from western Japan, with a description of three new species (Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae).

A lotic-breeding salamander Hynobius stejnegeri, formerly called H. yatsui, from western Japan is revised based on genetic and morphological evidence, and three species are described: H. guttatus sp.

Description of a New Salamander of the Genus Onychodactylus from Shikoku and Western Honshu, Japan (Amphibia, Caudata, Hynobiidae).

Recent phylogenetic studies using mtDNA and allozymes clarified the presence of multiple distinct genetic lineages in the Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus, of which two from northern regions of the country have already been described as new species. Based on morphological analyses of the remaining genetic lineages, we describe the lineage from Shikoku Island and Chugoku Mountains of western Honshu, in western Japan, as a new species, Onychodactylus kinneburi sp. nov.

Phylogeny and historical demography of Cynops pyrrhogaster (Amphibia: Urodela): taxonomic relationships and distributional changes associated with climatic oscillations.

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships and estimated the historical demography of the Japanese fire-bellied newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, from Japanese mainlands using 1407-bp sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (NADH6, tRNAglu, cyt b) and 1208-bp sequences of nuclear DNA (Rag-1) genes. Phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial DNA revealed four major haplotype clades (NORTHERN, CENTRAL, WESTERN, and SOUTHERN clades) within this species. Degree of genetic differentiation among major haplotype clades was very large for intraspecific variation, suggesting this species to be composed of four species lineages that replace each other geographically.

Allozymic variation in the Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus (Amphibia: Caudata: Hynobiidae), with special reference to the presence of two sympatric genetic types.

We conducted an electrophoretic survey to examine geographic genetic variation in samples from 17 localities of the Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus. This species was divided into six genetic groups (N-Tohoku, S-Tohoku, Tsukuba, SW-Honshu, Kinki, and Shikoku) that were largely concordant with clades or subclades recognized in our previous mtDNA study. Although the relationships among these six groups were not clarified, genetic distances between them were not small (mean Nel's D=0.

Phylogenetic relationships of two Salamandrella species as revealed by mitochondrial DNA and allozyme variation (Amphibia: Caudata: Hynobiidae).

We conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses to confirm taxonomic relationships and to delimit distributional ranges of Siberian salamanders, Salamandrella keyserlingii and Salamandrella schrenckii, and to elucidate the origin of the isolated population of this species complex on Hokkaido, Japan. Phylogenetic trees constructed by MP, NJ, ML, and Bayesian methods, using complete sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b genes, all indicated monophyly of Salamandrella and of each of the two species. Identical relationships were found on UPGMA, NJ, and CONTML trees derived from electrophoretic analysis of variation in 18 inferred allozyme loci.

Morphological and allozymic variation in Hynobius boulengeri and H. stejnegeri (Amphibia: Urodela: Hynobiidae).

We studied morphological and allozymic variation in populations of Japanese salamanders, Hynobius boulengeri and H. stejnegeri. Adult H.

Systematic Relationships of Hynobius okiensis among Japanese Salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata).

We conducted an electrophoretic survey to examine systematic relationships of a lotic-breeding salamander Hynobius okiensis endemic to Dogo Island of the Oki Islands, Japan, with several lentic and lotic-breeding Japanese species. Genetically H. okiensis with 2n=56 chromosomes was closer to the lentic-breeding H.

Phylogenetic relationships and phylogeography of Hynobius tokyoensis (Amphibia: Caudata) using complete sequences of cytochrome b and control region genes of mitochondrial DNA.

Using complete sequences of cytochrome b (cyt b) and control region (CR; D-loop) genes of mitochondrial DNA, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships and phylogeography among populations of the salamander Hynobius tokyoensis in northern Japan. Inclusion of populations from Aichi, Chubu region within Hynobius nebulosus by previous results was confirmed because they formed a clade with H. nebulosus.

Morphological discrimination of two genetic groups of a Japanese salamander, Hynobius naevius (Amphibia, Caudata).

Hynobius naevius, distributed on western Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu Islands of Japan, includes two genetically distinct groups (Groups A and B) that have never been delimited morphologically. Using specimens from the entire species range, we investigated the possibility of distinguishing these groups morphologically. Multivariate analyses of morphometric characters resulted in recognition of two groups that corresponded well to the two genetic groups.

Phylogenetic relationships of Hynobius naevius (Amphibia: Caudata) as revealed by mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes.

Using mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA sequences, we investigated phylogenetic relationships among populations of the endemic Japanese salamander Hynobius naevius. Monophyly of this species was recovered only in the maximum parsimony tree and was unresolved in maximum likelihood and Bayesian trees. Instead the following four haplotype clades consistently emerged clearly: Clade 1 from northwestern Kyushu, Clade 2 from Chugoku and northeastern Kyushu, Clade 3 from western Shikoku and Kyushu, and Clade 4 from Chubu-Kinki and central-eastern Shikoku.