Turkestanian Salamander

Head compressed, longer than broad. Snout rounded, the length equaling interorbital width. Vomerine tooth rows V-shaped, as long as 0.75 width of tongue, not broader than long. Length of eye 1.5 times interorbital width. Eyes prominent. Labial folds absent. Body cylindrical, slightly compressed. Head length 4.5 times snout-vent length (SVL). Snout to gular fold 3.25 times distance from gular fold to cloaca. If the hindleg is stretched forwards it does not reach the foreleg stretched back by more than a head length. Fingers and toes long, flattened, 5th toe 1.5 times length of 4th. Carpal and tarsal tubercles indistinct. Tail as long as gular fold to cloaca. Tail keel above and below, absent only on 1st quarter of tail. Tail tip tapers to a point. Cloaca a longitudinal slit, without transverse groove, the edges quite swollen. Skin smooth. Deep mid-dorsal groove forking on rear part of skull, longitudinal groove on forepart of skull. Costal grooves 14, reaching the belly. Parotoids large, flattened, on sides of head behind the mouth angles. Gular fold well-developed and extends on the sides of head. Second, less distinct gular fold between mouth angles. Deep longitudinal groove on side of head from the lateral part of gular fold towards the snout, ending well behind the eye. Dorsal coloration reddish-brown with small dark-brown spots. Flanks and belly spotless, yellowish-brown.Length: 90 mm (one specimen)The species was described six years after it was first collected, and no exact information about its localities and habits have been obtained. The type materials (those used to describe the species) were lost, and no more collections or observations are known. The species needs further exploration.

The species was described from "between Samarkand and Pamir" in the Middle Asia. Further analysis revealed that it could be found, more precisely, in the Southern Kirgizia. This may be a narrow - ranged species living in wet habitats near mountain brooks or semi-flowing waters.

Unknown

Unknown; probably, rare or extinct.

Unknown

The Turkestanian salamander (Hynobius turkestanicus) is a species of salamander in the family Hynobiidae only once found in 1909 (4 animals) in Central Asia somewhere "in Turkestan between Samarkand and Pamir" which can be in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. Since then the species has not been seen in the wild. None remain in captivity. The Turkestanian salamander is currently on the list of the 10 Most Wanted Amphibians, a rediscovery effort launched by Conservation International.