Thorius

Short description: Genus of amphibians

Thorius

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Amphibia
Order:  | Urodela
Family:  | Plethodontidae
Subfamily:  | Hemidactyliinae
Genus:  | Thorius
Cope, 1869
Species

See table.

Thorius, also known as minute salamanders,[1] pigmy salamanders, or Mexican pigmy salamanders, is a genus of salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are endemic to Mexico and found in southern Veracruz and Puebla to Guerrero and Oaxaca.[2]

Thorius is the most species-rich tropical salamander genus relative to its distribution area (Bolitoglossa and Pseudoeurycea have many more species but also much wider distribution areas). It is not uncommon for two or even three species to occur in the same place. In such cases, species have diverged in terms of body size and dentition, apparently facilitating niche differentiation.[3]

The members of this genus are characterized by a small body — some species are less than 2 cm (0.79 in) in snout–vent length (tail roughly doubles the total body length). Their extreme miniaturization is accompanied by determinate growth and skeletal reduction. Their skeleton also shows unique features, such as ossifications of many elements that remain cartilaginous in other salamanders. Consequently, they are easy to distinguish from other salamanders. In contrast, they tend to be similar in appearance, making it difficult to distinguish species.[3] However, molecular genetic methods have greatly facilitated identification of new species.[1]

## Species

As of November 15, 2016, this genus is composed of the following 29 species:[2][4][5]

Binomial Name and Author | Common Name

|

Thorius adelos
(Papenfuss and Wake, 1987) | Sierra Juarez salamander
Thorius arboreus
Hanken & Wake, 1994 | Arboreal minute salamander
Thorius aureus
Hanken & Wake, 1994 | Golden minute salamander
Thorius boreas
Hanken & Wake, 1994 | Northern minute salamander
Thorius dubitus
Taylor, 1941 | Acultzingo minute salamander
Thorius grandis
Hanken, Wake & Freeman, 1999 | Grand minute salamander
Thorius hankeni
Campbell, Brodie, Flores-Villela, and Smith, 2014 | Hanken's minute salamander
Thorius infernalis
Hanken, Wake & Freeman, 1999 | Atoyac minute salamander
Thorius insperatus
Hanken & Wake, 1994  | Vista Hermosa minute salamander
Thorius lunaris
Hanken & Wake, 1998 | Orizaba minute salamander
Thorius macdougalli
Taylor, 1949 | MacDougall's minute salamanders
Thorius magnipes
Hanken & Wake, 1998 | Big-footed minute salamander
Thorius maxillabrochus
Gehlbach, 1959 | Zoquitlan pigmy salamander
Thorius minutissimus
Taylor, 1949 | Oaxacan minute salamander
Thorius minydemus
Hanken & Wake, 1998 | La Hoya minute salamander
Thorius munificus
Hanken & Wake, 1998 | McDiarmid minute salamander
Thorius narismagnus
Shannon & Werler, 1955 | San Martin minute salamander
Thorius narisovalis
Taylor, 1940 | Upper Cerro minute salamander
Thorius omiltemi
Hanken, Wake & Freeman, 1999 | Omiltemi minute salamander
Thorius papaloae
Hanken & Wake, 2001 | Papalo minute salamander
Thorius pennatulus
Cope, 1869 | Veracruz minute salamander
Thorius pulmonaris
Taylor, 1940 | Lower Cerro minute salamander
Thorius schmidti
Gehlbach, 1959 | Schmidt's minute salamander
Thorius smithi
Hanken & Wake, 1994 | Smith's minute salamander
Thorius spilogaster
Hanken & Wake, 1998 | Spotted minute salamander
Thorius troglodytes
Taylor, 1941 | Taylor's minute salamander
Thorius pinicola
Parra-Olea et al., 2016 | Pine-dwelling minute salamander
Thorius longicaudus
Parra-Olea et al., 2016 | Long-tailed minute salamander
Thorius tlaxiacus
Parra-Olea et al., 2016 | Heroic minute salamander

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hanken, James; Wake, David B. (1998). "Biology of tiny animals: systematics of the minute salamanders (Thorius: Plethodontidae) from Veracruz and Puebla, México, with descriptions of five new species". Copeia 1998 (2): 312. doi:10.2307/1447427.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Thorius Cope, 1869". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Caudata/Plethodontidae/Hemidactyliinae/Thorius. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rovito, Sean M.; Parra-Olea, Gabriela; Hanken, James; Bonett, Ronald M.; Wake, David B. (2013). "Adaptive radiation in miniature: the minute salamanders of the Mexican highlands (Amphibia: Plethodontidae: Thorius)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 109 (3): 622–643. doi:10.1111/bij.12083.
4. ↑ "Plethodontidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2015. http://www.amphibiaweb.org/lists/Plethodontidae.shtml. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
5. ↑ Phys.org PeerJ: Three new species of miniaturized tropical salamanders are already endangered; Parra-Olea G, Rovito SM, García-París M, Maisano JA, Wake DB, Hanken J (2016). "Biology of tiny animals: Three new species of minute salamanders (Plethodontidae:Thorius) from Oaxaca, Mexico". PeerJ 4: e2694. doi:10.7717/peerj.2694. PMID 27896029.

Wikidata ☰ Q740923 entry

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