μCT source dataset of the holotype (CIB 14380) of Batrachuperus londongensis from Sichuan Province, China

The hynobiids are a primitive clade of tailed amphibians, and thus are significant in understanding the early evolutionary history of salamanders. However, no consensus has been reached in regard to the origin, evolutionary history of certain characters and phylogenetic relationships of this clade, due to the factors as below: poor fossil records, insufficiency of morphological investigations of living taxa, inconsistency of cladistic analyses using molecular data, and lacking of morphology-based cladistic analyses. Individuals of Batrachuperus londongensis inhabit in the Longdong River area in Mount Emei, Sichuan Province, China, featuring as the single living hynobiid species that is facultatively neotenic, of which certain adults fail to metamorphose but retain larval features. No thorough osteological investigations were conducted, despite that the species has been known to scientific community for 40 years. In this study, the holotype (CIB 14380) of B. londongensis was μCT scanned section by section, via the Quantum GX microCT Imaging System at Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The voxel size derived from these scans ranges between 67.1–144 μm. Several distinctive osteological traits characterizing the neotenic individuals of B. londongensis were revealed, such as the high ossification extent of the hyobranchial apparatus and the complete ossification of carpals and tarsals in the limb. This study represents the first attempt of applying μCT scan techniques in the osteological research in endemic hynobiids of China. This dataset includes the μCT source data of the holotype and the associated parameter files, reconstructed images, videos, 3D pdf and 3D printable stl files of the cranial part of the holotype. All files created from the μCT scan display a clear outline of the skeleton and can be easily employed by software, like VG Studio, etc. Sharing of these files benefits researchers the source data for comparative studies and is valuable for investigating the morphology of endemic hynobiids of China.