A team of German and Vietnamese researchers studied a series of animal specimens collected during field studies near the Da River, or the Black River, in northern Vietnam. Based on genetic and morphological comparisons, they detected two species ( Tylototriton pasmansi and Tylototriton sparreboomi) and one subspecies ( Tylototriton pasmansi obsti) that had never before been documented by scientists, bringing the total number of known crocodile newt taxa in Vietnam to seven.
Measuring only 12 to 15 centimeters from tail to snout , these new gang members are characterized by dark, knobby skin and wide-open eyes, which has led to them being mistaken in the past for the black newt (Tylototriton asperrimus sensu ).
The multiple threats they face
All members of the genus Tylototriton , also known as crocodile newts or knobby newts, have attracted the attention of exotic pet traders and street vendors of traditional Chinese medicine. On top of that, the genus is also threatened by habitat loss driven by urbanization, infrastructure development, and intensification of agriculture. As such, the knotty black newt is considered near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
However, this finding indicates that they could be rarer than previously thought. While this discovery of new species may seem like a huge victory for biodiversity, it actually means that the black newt is subdivided into multiple small groups.
“The taxonomic separation of a single extended species into multiple small-scale taxa has important implications for the conservation status of the original species ,” the researchers wrote in the article published in the journal ZooKeys.
“We therefore recommend a reassessment of the status of the black newt to reflect taxonomic revisions and increasingly severe threats from international trade and habitat loss, which have taken place over the past decade.”
Referencia: Integrative taxonomy reveals three new taxa within the Tylototriton asperrimus complex (Caudata, Salamandridae) from Vietnam . ZooKeys DOI Name: 10.3897/zookeys.935.37138
