At that time the entire East Asian landmass was linked together, and the salamanders spread out to Manchuria, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. Some of them came to "settle down" in Taiwan, cold year-round at the time. Distant in place of origin, the Formosan salamander is close, zoologically, to the frog.
當時，整個亞洲大陸是連在一起的，山椒魚便由西伯利亞向中國大陸東北、日本、韓國… … 等地四處遷徙，有一部分則來到當時經年寒冷的台灣「定居」。