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[upper] Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871)
[lower] Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924)
in Turvey, Marr, Barnes, et al., 2019.
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5257
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Abstract
Inaccurate taxonomic assessment of threatened populations can hinder conservation prioritization and management, with human‐mediated population movements obscuring biogeographic patterns and confounding reconstructions of evolutionary history. Giant salamanders were formerly distributed widely across China, and are interpreted as a single species, Andrias davidianus. Previous phylogenetic studies have identified distinct Chinese giant salamander lineages but were unable to associate these consistently with different landscapes, probably because population structure has been modified by human‐mediated translocations for recent commercial farming. We investigated the evolutionary history and relationships of allopatric Chinese giant salamander populations with Next‐Generation Sequencing methods, using historical museum specimens and late 20th‐century samples, and retrieved partial or near‐complete mitogenomes for 17 individuals. Samples from populations unlikely to have been affected by translocations form three clades from separate regions of China, spatially congruent with isolation by either major river drainages or mountain ranges. Pliocene–Pleistocene divergences for these clades are consistent with topographic modification of southern China associated with uplift of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. General Mixed Yule Coalescent model analysis indicates that these clades represent separate species: Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871) (northern Yangtze/Sichuan), Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924) (Pearl/Nanling), and an undescribed species (Huangshan). Andrias sligoi is possibly the world's largest amphibian. Inclusion of additional reportedly wild samples from areas of known giant salamander exploitation and movement leads to increasing loss of biogeographic signal. Wild Chinese giant salamander populations are now critically depleted or extirpated, and conservation actions should be updated to recognize the existence of multiple species.
Keywords: amphibian, Andrias, Chinese giant salamander, conservation, cryptic species, historical baselines, translocation
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| Andrias sligoi, probably originally prepared for inclusion in Boulenger (1924).
Artist unknown; courtesy of Zoological Society of London library.
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Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924)
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| Figure 1: Map of eastern Asia showing Chinese river drainages and mountain regions, and giant salamander sample localities: 1, Ya'an; 2, Meishan; 3, Zhongba/Chongqing; 4, Xi'an; 5, Yuanqu; 6, Zhangjiajie; 7, Huangshan; 8, northern Guangxi; 9, northern Guangdong; 10, Guangzhou; 11, Hong Kong. Arrows indicate direction of human‐mediated movement of giant salamanders associated with trade and farming. Gray hatching indicates distribution of giant salamanders in Japan based on IUCN (2018).
Inset, Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) found during 2013–2016 survey, assigned to clade B of Yan, Lü, et al. (2018); see Turvey et al., 2018
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Samuel T. Turvey, Melissa M. Marr, Ian Barnes, Selina Brace, Benjamin Tapley, Robert W. Murphy, Ermi Zhao and Andrew A. Cunningham. 2019. Historical Museum Collections Clarify the Evolutionary History of Cryptic Species Radiation in the World's Largest Amphibians. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5257
New species of giant salamander is world's biggest amphibian phys.org/news/2019-09-species-giant-salamander-world-biggest.html via @physorg_com
