View source for Lungless salamander

{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Lungless salamander
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Oligocene|Present|earliest=Paleocene}}
| image = Kaldari_Batrachoseps_attenuatus_02.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Batrachoseps attenuatus]]''
| taxon = Plethodontidae
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1850
| subdivision_ranks = Subgroups
| subdivision = * [[Hemidactyliinae]]
* [[Plethodontinae]]
* {{extinct}}''[[Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae|Palaeoplethodon]]''
| range_map = DIstribution_of_Plethodontidae.png
| range_map_caption = Native distribution of plethodontids (in green)
}}

The '''Plethodontidae''' is a [[family (biology)|family]] of '''lungless [[salamander]]s'''. They are the largest groups of salamanders. They probably evolved in [[North America]], where there are 14 [[genera]] and about 150 [[species]].<ref>Naish D. 2010. ''Tetrapod Zoology'', chapter 35. ISBN 978-1-905723=61-4</ref> Only one species is in Europe: it is  ''Speleomantes'', the cave salamander.<ref>Lanza B; Vanni S. & Nistri A. 1998. In Cogger H.G. & Zweifel R.G. (eds) ''Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians''. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-12-178560-2</ref>

Most of them are terrestrial and are active in daytime. Lungless salamanders may communicate with their nose.<ref name=Steb/><sup>p168</sup> [[Slender salamander]]s are found in the [[Pacific Coast]]. They are sometimes called "worm salamanders". This is because they have slimmer (skinny) bodies than most salamanders.<ref name=Steb>Stebbins, Robert Cyril 2003. A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. {{ISBN|0395982723}}</ref><sup>p182</sup> If touched, slender salamanders will [[wikt:bounce|bounce]] on the ground and then run away.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Other websites ==
* [http://www.amphibiaweb.org/lists/Plethodontidae.shtml AmphibiaWeb - Plethodontidae]
* [http://tolweb.org/Plethodontidae/15441 Tree of Life: Plethodontidae] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414142559/http://tolweb.org/Plethodontidae/15441 |date=2009-04-14 }}
* [http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Plethodontidae.shtml Caudata Culture Species Database - Plethodontidae] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229103533/http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Plethodontidae.shtml |date=2016-12-29 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lungless Salamander}}
[[Category:Salamanders]]


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