NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Ambystoma andersoni Krebs & Brandon, 1984
Source-backed taxonomic record
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.
Anderson's Salamander, Ambystoma andersoni.
Arican · CC BY 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Anderson's salamander (Ambystoma andersoni) is a neotenic salamander from Zacapu Lagoon in the Mexican state of Michoacán.
This salamander is a relatively recent discovery, first described by Branden and Krebs in 1984. Ambystoma andersoni is named after James Anderson, a herpetologist with the American Museum of Natural History, who did extensive fieldwork studying Ambystoma and other amphibians and reptiles in Mexico.
Like all neotenic Ambystoma species, A. andersoni retains its larval features into adulthood. The mature salamander has medium-sized external gills with bright red filaments, and a prominent caudal fin. It has a large head and small limbs, as do the larvae. Its coloration is a strange pattern of black blotches on a red-brown base. The salamanders are totally aquatic and spend their whole lives in the same body of water. Females lay dark yellowish-brown eggs that are approximately 2.2–2.3 mm in diameter, and hatchlings measure about 12–13 mm in total length and lack balancers, a trait common among members of the Ambystoma tigrinum group.
Wikipedia contributors, Anderson's salamander; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T15:04:45.264543+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ambystoma andersoni Krebs & Brandon, 1984
- Name authority
- Krebs & Brandon, 1984
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Caudata
- Family
- Ambystomatidae
- Genus
- Ambystoma
- 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
- familyAmbystomatidae Gray, 1850
- genusAmbystoma Tschudi, 1838
- speciesAmbystoma andersoni Krebs & Brandon, 1984
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ambystoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ambystoma ordinarium Taylor, 1940 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma altamirani Dugès, 1895 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma amblycephalum Taylor, 1940 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ringed SalamanderAmbystoma annulatum Cope, 1886 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Streamside SalamanderAmbystoma barbouri Kraus & Petranka, 1989 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Reticulated Flatwoods SalamanderAmbystoma bishopi Goin, 1950 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| California Tiger SalamanderAmbystoma californiense Gray, 1853 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma dumerilii (Dugès, 1870) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northwestern SalamanderAmbystoma gracile (Baird, 1859) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lake Lerma SalamanderAmbystoma lermaense (Taylor, 1940) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| AxolotlAmbystoma mexicanum (Shaw & Nodder, 1798) | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ambystoma silvense Webb, 2004 | AmbystomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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=586238 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:CQ3C. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.