science

Taiwan lesser salamander

Taiwan lesser salamander is a science 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 Taiwan lesser salamander rather than just read about it. In short: Hynobius fucus is an endemic species of Taiwan, which is mainly distributed around the northwest mountain range, approximately an altitude of 1500 meters. It is one of Taiwan’s amphibian most recently discovered amphibians, as well having the lowest altitude habitat of all of Taiwan’s salamanders.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hynobius fucus is an endemic species of Taiwan, which is mainly distributed around the northwest mountain range, approximately an altitude of 1500 meters. It is one of Taiwan’s amphibian most recently discovered amphibians, as well having the lowest altitude habitat of all of Taiwan’s salamanders. Their main feature is that their body is covered in small blue and white dots. The cloaca is 5 cm and body length 8 cm (up to 10 cm). It only has 4 toes in the front and back limbs. Only the Taiwan Hynobius formosanus has the same number of toes as this species. The other types of salamander, including Hynobius arisanensis Maki, Hynobius sonani, and Hynobius glacialis have 5 toes in the hind limbs. This is the one of main methods to differentiate between types of salamander. Currently, the Hynobius fucus is listed as class 1 endangered species.

Discovery Hynobius fucus was first discovered in 1993 in the Guanwu mountain area in Tai'an Township, Miaoli County. Their body type and color are significantly different to those of other types of salamander. However, as there was only one individual discovered at that time, it was not possible to confirm their ecological niche. After many years of investigation, with many samples collected in 2008 further analysis of variations in the sequence of the mitochondria DNA was carried out in Taiwan by biologists Chun-Hsiang Lai and Kuang-Yang Lu. It was discovered that the Hynobius fucus was an independent species and was published as a new species.

Distribution Currently, it is known that Hynobius fucus can be found in Xueshan and the northern mountain area with the sightings recorded in the Hsinchu Forest District area, Guanwu area in the Shei-Pa National Park and areas near Peichatienshan at the tail of Xueshan. The Peichatienshan area is known to be the most northern part of its area of distribution, which ranges south to the West Branch of Dalu Forest Road, east to Mingchi and west to Guanwu. Compared to the other type of salamander in Taiwan, the key difference is that they can be found at elevations as low as an altitude of 1310 meters, as seen in the Peichatienshan area.

References

Amphiweb: Information on Amphibian Biology and Conservation. 2008, Berkeley, California. Hynobius fuca Downloaded on 20 September 2009.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Taiwan lesser salamander

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Taiwan lesser salamander claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Taiwan lesser 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 Taiwan lesser 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 Taiwan lesser salamander

In research: Taiwan lesser salamander appears in science 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 Taiwan lesser 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: Taiwan lesser salamander is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibians described in 2008, Amphibians of Taiwan, Endemic fauna of Taiwan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Taiwan lesser 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 Taiwan lesser salamander in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Taiwan lesser 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 Taiwan lesser salamander out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Taiwan lesser salamander in simple terms?

Why does Taiwan lesser salamander matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Taiwan lesser 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 Taiwan lesser salamander.