Herpetological Review 46(1), 2015 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 69 The Natural History Notes section is analogous to Geographic Distribution. Preferred notes should 1) focus on observations in the field, with little human intrusion; 2) represent more than the isolated documentation of developmental aberrations; and 3) possess a natural history perspective. Individual notes should, with few exceptions, concern only one species, and authors are requested to choose a keyword or short phrase that best describes the nature of their note (e.g., Reproduction, Morphology, Habitat, etc.). Use of figures to illustrate any data is encouraged, but should replace words rather than embellish them. The section’s intent is to convey information rather than demonstrate prose. Articles submitted to this section will be reviewed and edited prior to acceptance. Electronic submission of manuscripts is requested (as Microsoft Word or Rich Text format [rtf] files, as e-mail attachments). Figures can be submitted electronically as JPG, TIFF, or PDF files at a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Please DO NOT send graphic files as imbedded figures within a text file. Additional information concerning preparation and submission of graphics files is available on the SSAR web site at: http://www.ssarherps.org/HRinfo.html. Manuscripts should be sent to the appropriate section editor: Sean P. Graham or Crystal Kelehear Graham (amphibians; grahasp@tigermail.auburn.edu); James Harding (turtles; hardingj@msu.edu); Charles Linkem (crocodilians, lizards, and Sphenodon; herprev.ltc.nhn@gmail.com); and John D. Willson or David A. Steen (snakes; hr.snake.nhn@gmail.com). A reference template for preparing Natural History Notes may be downloaded at: http://ssarherps.org/wp-content/ uploads/2014/07/NatHistNotes_FormattingGuidelines.pdf. Standard format for this section is as follows: SCIENTIFIC NAME in bold, capital letters; standard English name in parentheses with only first letter of each word capitalized (if available, for the United States and Canada as it appears in Crother [ed.] 2012. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 7 th ed. Herpetol. Circ. 39:1–92, available from SSAR Publications Secretary, ssar@herplit.com; for Mexico as it appears in Liner and Casas-Andreu 2008. Standard Spanish, English and Scientific Names of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Mexico. Herpetol. Circ. 38:1–162); KEY WORD(S) referring to the content of the note in bold, capital letters; content reporting observations and data on the animal; place of deposition or intended deposition of specimen(s), and catalog number(s) if relevant. Then skip a line and close with author name(s) in bold, capital letters (give names and addresses in full—spell out state names—no abbreviations, e-mail address after each author name/address for those wishing to provide it—e-mail required for corresponding author). References may be briefly cited in text (refer to this issue or the online template for citation format and follow format precisely). One additional note about the names list (Crother 2012) developed and adopted by ASIH-HL-SSAR: the role of the list is to standardize English names and comment on the current scientific names. Scientific names are hypotheses (or at least represent them) and as such their usage should not be dictated by a list, society, or journal. Recommended citation for notes appearing in this section is: Goldberg, S. R., and C. R. Mahrdt. 2012. Bogertophis rosaliae: reproduction. Herpetol. Rev. 43:655. CAUDATA — SALAMANDERS ANDRIAS JAPONICUS (Japanese Giant Salamander). DIET. An- drias japonicus is well known as one of the largest extant amphib- ians. The species is a high-order predator in Japanese river eco- systems and preys on a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates including mammals (Tochimoto 2002. Hyogo Biol. 12:134–139; Okada et al. 2008. Herpetol. Conserv. Biol. 3:192–202). At 1500 h on 30 March 2014, a local person observed a giant salaman- der regurgitating an embryo of a Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) in a small irrigation canal (width = 60–110 cm, depth = 10–20 cm) that originates from the Sayo River, in Sayo Town, Hyogo Prefec- ture, Japan (35.04861°N, 134.37083°E, datum WGS84; elev. 135 m; Fig. 1). The giant salamander (total length = 830 mm) was found as it was starting to expel its meal. On the following day (1548 h on 31 March 2014), we visited the place and the giant salaman- der was found to have again swallowed the deer embryo. How- ever, as soon as we began measuring it, it started to regurgitate (Fig. 2), which took ca. 10 sec. to complete. The giant salaman- der weighed 4650 g before regurgitating the embryo and 3550 g NATURAL HISTORY NOTES NATURAL HISTORY NOTES Fig. 1. Irrigation canal, originating from the Sayo River, Hyogo Pre- fecture, Japan. Arrow shows where the Japanese Giant Salamander was found.