The Salamandroidea are a
suborder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
of
salamanders, referred to as advanced salamanders. The members of the suborder are found worldwide except for
Antarctica, sub-Saharan Africa, and
Oceania. They differ from suborder
Cryptobranchoidea as the
angular and
prearticular bones in their lower jaws are fused, their trunk ribs are bicapitate, and all members use
internal fertilization. The female is fertilized by means of a
spermatophore, a sperm-containing cap placed by the male in her
cloaca
In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds, a ...
. The sperm is stored in
spermathecae on the roof of the cloaca until it is needed at the time of
oviposition
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...
.
The earliest known salamandroid fossils are specimens of the species ''
Beiyanerpeton jianpingensis'' and ''
Qinglongtriton gangouensis'' from the
Tiaojishan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China, dated to the Late
Jurassic about 157 million years ago.
References
Salamanders
Kimmeridgian first appearances
Extant Late Jurassic first appearances
Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger
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