biology

Puxiong salamander

Puxiong salamander is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Puxiong salamander rather than just read about it. In short: The Puxiong salamander (Pseudohynobius puxiongensis) is a species of salamander in the family Hynobiidae, endemic to China. It is only known from the vicinity of its type locality, in Puxiong (普雄镇), in Yuexi County, Sichuan Province.

Key takeaways

Puxiong salamander belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Puxiong salamander to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Puxiong salamander from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Puxiong salamander (Pseudohynobius puxiongensis) is a species of salamander in the family Hynobiidae, endemic to China. It is only known from the vicinity of its type locality, in Puxiong (普雄镇), in Yuexi County, Sichuan Province. The area belongs to the Hengduan Mountains that form the southeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Puxiong salamander is a relatively small salamander with a slender body form.

History of discovery and taxonomic position The Puxiong salamander was first described in 2000 as Protohynobius puxiongensis, based on a single specimen collected in 1965. Because of a characteristic interpreted as primitive (internasal bone), a new monotypic genus, Protohynobius, in its own subfamily, Protohynobiinae, was established. However, field effort in 2007–2009 revealed new animals that allowed a more detailed analysis. These suggested the holotype from 1965 was slightly unusual, as later specimens did not have an internasal bone while being in other respects very similar to the holotype. Furthermore, the Puxiong salamander is morphologically similar to Pseudohynobius species, and genetic analyses place it as a sister group of Pseudohynobius. Because the genetic distance to Pseudohynobius was small, it was concluded that Puxiong salamander should be placed in genus Pseudohynobius. This position is adopted in the "Amphibian Species of the World".

Habitat The holotype was collected from an abandoned potato cellar, but later field work revealed a more typical habitat for a hynobiid, i.e., high-mountain terrestrial (altitude 2,900 m), with breeding in cold-water streams.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Puxiong salamander

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Puxiong salamander claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Puxiong salamander before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Puxiong salamander ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Puxiong salamander

In research: Puxiong salamander appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Puxiong salamander in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Puxiong salamander is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibians described in 2000, Endemic amphibians of China, Endemic fauna of Sichuan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Puxiong salamander outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Puxiong salamander in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Puxiong salamander means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Puxiong salamander out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Puxiong salamander in simple terms?

Why does Puxiong salamander matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Puxiong salamander?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Puxiong salamander.