Hynobius fossigenus Okamiya, Sugawara, Nagano & Poyarkov, 2018
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Male holotype of Hynobius fossigenus sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5862) in situ. Photo by H. Okamiya.
Hisanori Okamiya, Hirotaka Sugawara, Masahiro Nagano, Nikolay A. Poyarkov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Hynobius fossigenus is a species of salamander in the family Hynobiidae, and is found in some prefectures in Kantō and Chūbu districts in Japan.
Like all species in the genus Hynobius, it has lungs, its tail is smaller than its body, and it does not have claws on its fingertips. However, characteristics such as its purplish coloration with golden spots, its size, and its use of lotic waters to reproduce make this species different from all the others.
The individuals breed between December and April in mountain streams surrounded by Cryptomeria japonica evergreen forests. After mating, the females lay their eggs in envelopes, which are thick, transparent, and resistant, where they remain for sixty days, when the embryo fully develops in the egg. After hatching, the tadpoles leave the envelope and start living under rocks or at the bottom of streams, completing their metamorphosis within a year. The males become adults around the age of five, while the females become adults around the age of seven.
Wikipedia contributors, Hynobius fossigenus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T16:29:42.606094+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hynobius fossigenus Okamiya, Sugawara, Nagano & Poyarkov, 2018
- Name authority
- Okamiya, Sugawara, Nagano & Poyarkov, 2018
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Caudata
- Family
- Hynobiidae
- Genus
- Hynobius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderCaudata
- familyHynobiidae Cope, 1859
- subfamilyHynobiinae Cope, 1859
- genusHynobius Tschudi, 1838
- speciesHynobius fossigenus Okamiya, Sugawara, Nagano & Poyarkov, 2018
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hynobius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hynobius abei Sato, 1934 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius amakusaensis Nishikawa & Matsui, 2014 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius arisanensis Maki, 1922 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius bakan Matsui, Okawa & Nishikawa, 2019 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius chinensis Günther, 1889 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius hidamontanus Matsui, 1987 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius hirosei Lantz, 1931 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius leechii Boulenger, 1887 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius utsunomiyaorum Matsui & Okawa, 2019 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius vandenburghi Dunn, 1923 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius yiwuensis Cai, 1985 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hynobius turkestanicus Nikolskii, 1910 | HynobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1104176 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3NLTF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.