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| Pachytriton xanthospilos
Wu, Wang & Hanken, 2012
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Abstract
New species of amphibians are being reported at an astonishingly fast rate. These include some that have been known to
the commercial pet trade for years but have not been formally described due to uncertain origin. The distinctive phenotype
of “Pachytriton B” among the Chinese stout newts (also known as paddle-tailed newts) is one such example. Through
examination of museum specimens, we locate a population from Mt. Mang within the Nanling Mountain Range with morphology
and coloration similar to Pachytriton B. Molecular phylogenetic analyses strongly suggest that this population
and Pachytriton B belong to the same species, which differs from congeners morphologically and chromatically and is
described here as a new species. This species is characterized by a large and stout body, uniformly light brown dorsum,
and orange spots or blotches that extend ribbon-like along the dorsolateral sides of the body. A mitochondrial genealogy
suggests that the new species is the sister taxon to the group (P. brevipes + P. feii). Morphologically, this species is significantly
stouter than P. feii and has significantly longer limbs than P. brevipes.
Key words: Chinese stout newt; salamander; mitochondrial genealogy; principal-components analysis; Pachytriton
xanthospilos sp. nov.
Yunke WU, Yuezhao WANG and James HANKEN. 2012. New Species of Pachytriton (Caudata: Salamandridae) from the Nanling Mountain Range, southeastern China. Zootaxa. 3388: 1–16.