Corresponding author: Porrawee Pomchote (
Academic editor: Luis Ceríaco
We describe a new species of the newt genus
Pomchote P, Peerachidacho P, Hernandez A, Sapewisut P, Khonsue W, Thammachoti P, Nishikawa K (2021) A new species of the genus
The salamandrid genus
The genus is subdivided into three subgenera,
To our knowledge, Thailand contains five
However, according to
As polymorphic species provide an opportunity to examine the role of isolation in populations that may contribute to the process of divergence, we assessed the western populations of
The field survey was performed on 19 June 2021 at
Localities for the
All four newts were checked for sex and maturity using the cloacal characters (
Live specimens were anesthetized by immersion in a solution of tricaine methane sulfonate (MS-222; 5 g/L) for about 5 min (
Total DNA was extracted from the liver using a PureDireXTM genomic isolation kit (Bio-Helix, Taiwan). The mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene (
We combined the four new sequences of the
Specimens of
Sample no. | Species | Voucher no. | Locality | GenBank no. | Source |
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1 | Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak, Thailand |
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This study | ||
2 | Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak, Thailand |
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This study | ||
3 | Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak, Thailand |
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This study | ||
4 | Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak, Thailand |
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This study | ||
5 | KUHE 19147 | Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand |
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6 | Doi Phu Kha National Park, Nan, Thailand |
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7 | VNMN A.2014.3 | Muong Nhe, Dien Bien, Vietnam |
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8 | KIZ 201306055 | Husa, Yunnan, China |
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9 | No voucher | Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary, Loei, Thailand |
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10 | NMNS 3682 | Jingdong, Yunnan, China |
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11 |
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KUHE 46406 | Yunnan, China |
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12 |
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KUHE 34399 | Xam Neua, Houa Phan, Laos |
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13 | CAS 245418 | Panwa, Myitkyina, Myanmar |
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14 |
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KUHE 42282 | Yunnan, China |
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15 | CAS 230940 | Taunggyi, Shan, Myanmar |
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16 |
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MVZ no number | Nepal |
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17 | ZMMU A5953 | Indawgyi, Kachin, Myanmar |
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18 |
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MVZ 230371 | Daguan, Yunnan, China |
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19 |
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KUHE 43361 | Unknown, China |
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20 | KUHE no number | Nago, Okinawa, Japan |
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The morphometric characters of the
We compared the reported morphometrics of a total of 12 specimens, the four
The following 27 measurements were taken for morphometric comparisons, where the character definitions are given in
For morphological comparisons, the data for the other related species were taken from the related literatures (
We compared the
We obtained 452–1,039 bp sequences of the partial
Phylogenetic analyses employing the
Bayesian inference tree based on the partial
The
Genetic uncorrected
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0.050 | |||||||||||||||
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0.061 | 0.091 | ||||||||||||||
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0.052 | 0.082 | 0.045 | |||||||||||||
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0.039 | 0.073 | 0.057 | 0.057 | ||||||||||||
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0.136 | 0.145 | 0.138 | 0.134 | 0.127 | |||||||||||
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0.043 | 0.073 | 0.061 | 0.057 | 0.014 | 0.132 | ||||||||||
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0.048 | 0.073 | 0.054 | 0.045 | 0.025 | 0.116 | 0.029 | |||||||||
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0.063 | 0.098 | 0.068 | 0.057 | 0.041 | 0.127 | 0.054 | 0.039 | ||||||||
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0.043 | 0.082 | 0.059 | 0.045 | 0.020 | 0.122 | 0.034 | 0.018 | 0.029 | |||||||
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0.043 | 0.075 | 0.059 | 0.039 | 0.034 | 0.132 | 0.043 | 0.027 | 0.045 | 0.027 | ||||||
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0.075 | 0.095 | 0.079 | 0.070 | 0.059 | 0.122 | 0.063 | 0.059 | 0.079 | 0.063 | 0.070 | |||||
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0.068 | 0.084 | 0.063 | 0.057 | 0.054 | 0.118 | 0.054 | 0.057 | 0.063 | 0.057 | 0.063 | 0.052 | ||||
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0.091 | 0.118 | 0.088 | 0.079 | 0.073 | 0.134 | 0.082 | 0.079 | 0.082 | 0.066 | 0.082 | 0.079 | 0.054 | |||
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0.070 | 0.091 | 0.068 | 0.054 | 0.052 | 0.118 | 0.057 | 0.054 | 0.066 | 0.054 | 0.057 | 0.063 | 0.052 | 0.066 | ||
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0.077 | 0.088 | 0.073 | 0.075 | 0.057 | 0.107 | 0.057 | 0.057 | 0.070 | 0.061 | 0.073 | 0.068 | 0.057 | 0.075 | 0.043 | |
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0.186 | 0.188 | 0.179 | 0.184 | 0.172 | 0.175 | 0.175 | 0.166 | 0.177 | 0.166 | 0.184 | 0.179 | 0.175 | 0.188 | 0.168 | 0.156 |
A total of 12 specimens were used for morphometric comparisons (Table
Morphometric comparisons of the examined specimens of
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4 males | 7 males | 1 female | 4 males | 7 males | 1 female | ||
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72.0 ± 4.4* (65.6–75.3) | 62.7 ± 4.8 (55.5–67.4) | 60.9 | RTRL | 76.8 (75.4–77.4) | 75.2 (71.9–77.5) | 76.2 |
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12.1 ± 1.4 (10.2–13.3) | RTAL | 104.7 (91.9–107.3) | 106.3 (67.4–117.0) | 85.2 | ||
RHL | 23.0* (22.0–25.2) | 25.2 (24.1–26.1) | 24.9 | RVL | 8.0 (7.3–9.4) | 9.1 (7.8–11.5) | 4.0 |
RHW | 21.4 (19.4–22.7) | 22.3 (19.9–25.4) | 26.5 | RBTAW | 14.5 (12.6–15.1) | 13.1 (12.2–15.0) | 13.1 |
RMXHW | 25.6 (25.0–26.9) | 25.5 (24.6–28.6) | 28.1 | RMTAW | 2.3 (2.2–2.4) | 2.7 (1.6–3.3) | 2.1 |
RSL | 8.8 (8.2–9.8) | 8.7 (7.8–9.4) | 9.0 | RBTAH | 15.0 (11.9–15.3) | 11.8 (10.0–13.8) | 15.5 |
RLJL | 22.8 (22.1–23.5) | 22.9 (20.7–23.3) | 23.2 | RMXTAH | 11.1 (8.8–12.1) | 12.0 (10.3–13.8) | 16.9 |
RENL | 5.8* (5.6–6.2) | 7.1 (6.2–7.4) | 6.9 | RMTAH | 10.6 (7.9–12.0) | 10.0 (8.0–13.6) | 16.2 |
RIND | 6.2 (5.8–6.5) | 6.4 (6.0–7.8) | 7.6 | RFLL | 37.0 (34.2–40.5) | 39.4 (35.6–42.6) | 33.1 |
RIOD | 13.2 (12.9–13.7) | 13.2 (12.4–14.3) | 14.2 | RHLL | 38.4 (35.2–41.9) | 43.6 (37.9–50.9) | 40.1 |
RUEW | 2.5* (2.3–2.9) | 3.2 (2.6–3.5) | 2.9 | R2FL | 7.1* (6.7–8.1) | 5.9 (5.1–6.5) | 4.7 |
RUEL | 6.0* (5.5–6.4) | 7.2 (6.5–7.8) | 7.5 | R3FL | 7.6 (5.6–8.9) | 6.6 (5.5–8.2) | 6.3 |
ROL | 3.0* (2.7–3.3) | 4.6 (4.0–5.0) | 4.2 | R3TL | 9.3 (8.9–11.0) | 9.0 (8.3–12.5) | 9.1 |
RAGD | 53.7 (51.9–54.4) | 52.2 (46.7–57.2) | 50.8 | R5TL | 4.9 (4.8–5.7) | 4.4 (3.5–6.5) | 4.1 |
*
In life, the dorsal ground color was dark brown to black (
Male
The
The male holotype of
The snout of the
The dorsolateral bony ridges of the
In lateral view, the parotoids of the
In dorsal view, the quadrate regions of the
In the urodeles, the dentaries are elongated, paired bones that curve medially. The left and right dentaries touch each other antero-medially on the lower jaw. At the antero-medial ends, some expansions are developed posteriorly in the dorsal view, while in the anterior view this expansion slightly develops in the ventral direction (e.g.,
The vertebral ridge of the
The rib nodules of
The overall morphological differences were examined using
Based on the molecular and morphological evidence, the
The specific epithet
The new species is placed in the genus
Body rather slim and long (RTRL 76.6%); skin rough; fine granules dense on dorsum, dense on sides of body and tail, and arranged in transverse striations on mid-ventrum; head longer than wide (
In life, dorsal ground coloration is dark-brown to blackish-brown, while the ventral color is slightly lighter than dorsum. Dorsal, ventral, and lateral of head, parotoids, vertebral ridge, rib nodules, limbs, vent region, and whole tail are orange-brown. Tip of tail is slightly lighter than dorsal and lateral sides of tail. Ventral side of head, part of pectoral and pubic region, limbs, and tail prominently lighter than dorsum. The lightest is the ventral edge of the tail. The lighter region between the ventral edge of the tail and the area of the vent is connected. Color of digit tips is dark brown. After a week in preservation, the color pattern is rather similar to that in life.
Some differences in morphology were observed among the four specimens. The dorsolateral bony ridges on the head of one paratype (
Holotype (
The
Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province, western Thailand (Fig.
All specimens were found during the afternoon at around 14:30 h hidden under leaf litter and between stems of arrowroot plants (family
Habitat at the type locality of
Molecular and morphological evidence indicate that the newts found at
Geographic isolation may limit gene flow and promote genetic differentiation among populations which can result in the formation of new species (
According to previous data (Watchara Sanguansombat and Chattraphas Pongcharoen, personal communication) and the check list of fauna diversity of
We thank Amnat Fongchai, Bunruam Khunin, and Mae Klong Khi park rangers for kind support in the fieldwork; Chitchol Phalaraksh for facilitating the field support; Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Thansuda Dowwiangkan, Jean Raffaëlli, Daniel Escoriza, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Keerati Kanya, Pichani Saengtharatip, and Manut Ruadraew for useful discussion on