Anterior ventral glands are present in male cloacae. Posterior ventral glands are present in male cloacae. Kingsbury's glands are present in male cloacae. Dorsal pelvic glands are present in males. Lateral pelvic glands are present in males.
Glands secreting into the male cloacal orifice are present.
Parental care of eggs by females is observed only for Ambystoma opacum. The diploid number of chromosomes is 28. The family Ambystomatidae contains only two extant genera, Ambystoma and Rhyacosiredon, with the latter comprising 4 species found in streams in the mountains of Mexico. To avoid making Ambystoma paraphyletic, recognition of Rhyacosiredon has been discontinued by some authors and its four species added to the genus Ambystoma. Rhyacotriton is only a distant relative of these genera, however, and should not be placed in the family Ambystomatidae.