A new species of crocodile newt from the Central Highlands of Vietnam is described in the journal ZooKeys.
“This is a unique discovery because it is one of the most colorful species of the genus Tylototriton. It is also the first time that a crocodile newt species has been recorded from the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It occurs at elevations from 1,800 to 2,300 m above sea level, this discovery sets a high record for the genus in the country, with a previous distribution between 250 m and 1,740 m, “said the discoverer and first author of the study Trung My Phung.
In addition, the discovery of the Vietnamese-German researcher team represents the southernmost part of the distribution of the genus known so far. The habitat of the new species is located approximately 370 air km away from the nearest population of Tylototriton, which makes it an important discovery in terms of evolution and zoogeography.
The name “ngoclinhensis” refers to the type locality of the new species, Ngoc Linh Mountain. Restricted to the evergreen montane forest, the Ngoc Linh Crocodile Newt is currently known only from the Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve, Kon Tum Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It is the eighth salamander taxon described from Vietnam, and the 39th species of Tylototriton to be officially recognized.
New crocodiles, scientifically known as the genus Tylototriton, include about 40 species that live in mountain forest areas throughout the Asian monsoon climate zone. Remarkably, 15 of these species have been described in the last five years, and there remain many unnamed taxa, which contain cryptic species that are difficult to identify morphologically.
Established in 1986, Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve is an important biodiversity area for rare species such as the endangered Golden-winged Laughingthrush and Truong Son Muntjac. The Ngoc Linh Crocodile Newt will definitely represent another key species in this protected area and its surroundings, researchers said.
Ngoc Linh has become a hotspot of amphibian diversity, with many endemic species. An early study highlighted the extraordinary endemism rate of amphibians in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
“[The Central Highlands is] where the highest amphibian species diversity was recorded for Vietnam, with 130 species, while also containing the highest number of regionally occurring, micro-endemic amphibians, amounting to 26 species,” explained Prof. Dr. Truong Quang Nguyen, vice director of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), Hanoi.
This recent discovery is another unique case, “showing that the Central Highlands has a special role in Vietnamese amphibian diversification and evolution,” said co-author Dr. Cuong The Pham from IEBR.
The Ngoc Linh Crocodile Newt belongs to a group of restricted range, called micro-endemic species, which face the greatest risk of extinction due to their perceived small population. Unfortunately, on top of its special zoogeographic status and rarity, its highly colorful appearance is likely to be very attractive to illegal collectors.
“Therefore, this discovery has a high conservation relevance,” said Prof. dr. Tao Thien Nguyen from the Institute of Genome Research, Hanoi.
The species should be provisionally considered listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species, the researchers said. All species of the genus Tylototriton have been listed in the Appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and also in Governmental Decree No. 84/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam. Therefore new species are automatically protected under these regulations.
Now, conservation activities on the site have priority, but the team is already working on breeding conservation measures, in line with the One Plan Approach to Conservation, developed by the IUCN’s Conservation Planning Specialist Group, which combines in-situ and ex-situ efforts and different skills for the best protection of a species.
“This has been successfully implemented for another recently discovered, micro-endemic crocodile newt species from Vietnam, Tylototriton vietnamensis, where more than 350 individuals have been successfully bred at the Cologne Zoo in Germany and also at the Melinh Station for Biodiversity. in Vietnam, which is a good example for IUCN’s Reverse the Red campaign and the idea of conservation zoo”, said Prof. dr. Thomas Ziegler, Vietnam conservation team member and coordinator from Cologne Zoo, Germany.
More information:
Trung My Phung et al, Southbound—the southernmost record of Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from the Central Highlands of Vietnam represents a new species, ZooKeys (2023). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1168.96091
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Citation: The latest crocodile newt record is a new threatened species (2023, July 4) retrieved on July 4, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-07-southernmost-crocodile -newt-threatened-species.html
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