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Paradactylodon mustersi (Smith, 1940)
Batrachuperus mustersi Smith, 1940, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 11, 5: 382. Holotype: BMNH 1940.3.1.1, by original designation, now renumbered BMNH 1946.9.6.59 (originally 1940.3.11) according to Brame and Gorham, 1972, Checklist Living & Fossil Salamand. World (Unpubl. MS): 2, and museum records. Type locality: "mountain streams of the Paghman Range, above Paghman [= 17 mi. W Kabul], at between 9000 and 10,000 feet altitude", Afghanistan.
Paradactylodon mustersi — Zhang, Chen, Zhou, Liu, Wang, Papenfuss, Wake, and Qu, 2006, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103: 7364; Zheng, Peng, Kuro-o, and Zeng, 2011, Mol. Biol. Evol., 28: 2521–2535.
Afghanodon mustersi — Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 77–161; Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 407.
Common Names
Paghman Mountain Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28).
Afghanistan Mountain Salamander (Sparreboom, 2014, Salamanders Old World: 126).
Afghan Mountan Salamander (Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 44).
Distribution
Hindu Kush mountain range with records from only a few localities from five central-eastern Afghan provinces (Kabul, Ghazni, Panjsheer, Parwan, and Wardak), 2750–3050 m elevation.
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: Afghanistan
Endemic: Afghanistan
Comment
See Mertens, 1970, Aquar. Terrar. Z., 11: 346–348, Reilly, 1983, J. Herpetol., 17: 1–9, Böhme, 1982, Elaphe, 2: 33–36, Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 119–121, and Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 57–58, for accounts. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status (as Batrachuperus mustersi) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 548.See Zheng, Peng, Kuro-o, and Zeng, 2011, Mol. Biol. Evol., 28: 2521–2535, for demonstration that Iranodon and Afghanodon are sister species and placed in Paradactylodon. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 53–54, provided a brief account, photo, and range map. Sparreboom, 2014, Salamanders Old World: 126–128, reviewed the biology, characteristics, distribution, reproduction, and conservation of the species, as Paradactylodon mustersi. See localities and range map for Afghanistan by Wagner, Bauer, Leviton, Wilms, and Böhme, 2016, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 63: 457–565. Ahmadzadeh, Shahrokhi, Saberi-Pirooz, Oladi, Taati, Poyarkov, and Rödder, 2020, Amphibia-Reptilia, 41: 519–534, reported on comparative morphology, molecular phylogeography, and biogeography. Böhme and Jablonski, 2022, Bonn Zool. Bull., 71: 1–7, provided a translation and discussion of Nawabi, 1965, Science, Kabul, 1965: 21–25 (in Farsi and not seen), on the life history and morphology. Ayobi, Masroor, Basit, and Jablonski, 2022, Herpetozoa, Wien, 35: 133–139, discussed the distribution and conservation status as well as providing a new record from Panjsheer Province, Afghanistan. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 44–45, provided a detailed account (as Afghanodon mustersi), covering systematics, life history, and distribution (including a polygon map). Vaissi, Heshmatzad, and Hernandez, 2023, Amphibia-Reptilia, 44: 415–429, discussed modeled niche and susceptibility to climate change.
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- For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
- For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist