Fig. 4 in Taxonomic Re-examination of the Yamato Salamander Hynobius vandenburghi: Description of a New Species from Central Honshu, Japan

Fig. 4) is difficUlt to confirm aftEr prEsErvation. Natural History. The main vegetation in the surrounding habitat of the new species is an evergreen forest of Fagaceae trees (i.e., Castanopsis and Quercus spp.) (Fig. 5). Larvae have black spots on the lateral sides of their body and tail, and thEy havE no claws on thE tips of thEir fingErs and toEs. In the early developmental stages of the larvae, they have one pair of balancers. Egg sacs are banana-shaped and are attached to fallen leaves or branches in puddles or ponds at forest edges from February to April. Distribution. It is known from Nagoya-shi (including the Midori-ku, Tenpaku-ku, Moriyama-ku, Chikusa-ku, and Meito-ku), Tokai-shi, Chita-shi, Tokoname-shi, Setoshi, Toyota-shi (only former Fujioka-cho), Nagakuteshi, and Owariasahi-shi, and Higashiura-cho, Aguicho, Mihama-cho, Taketoyo-cho, and Minamichita-cho (Matsui et al., 2019) in Aichi Prefecture. In this study, DNA data from Higashiura-cho and Agui-cho were not included, but adult specimens from these towns are stored in thE Toyohashi MUsEUm of NatUral History (confirmEd by T. Fujitani). It is possible that this species may also be distributed in Handa-shi, but reliable records on its inhabitation are not available. Probably, the populations of Tokai-shi, Chita-shi, and Tokoname-shi, as well as Higashiura-cho, Agui-cho, and Taketoyo-cho, were already Extinct by 2021 basEd on oUr fiEld sUrvEys. Remarks. The new species forms a monophyletic group with H. vandenburghi (Matsui et al., 2019). The results of our study support this hypothesis by BI, but the posterior probability is not high (Fig. 2).