A new species of Crocodile Newt, genus Tylototriton (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from the mountains of Kachin State, northern Myanmar

• Main Authors: Than Zaw, Paw Lay, Parinya Pawangkhanant, JVladislav A. Gorin, Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Jr.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Science Press, PR China 2019-05-01
• Series: Zoological Research
• Subjects: Tylototriton kachinorum sp. nov.; mtDNA genealogy; ND2; 16S rRNA; Shan; Biogeography; Endemism; Taxonomy
• Online Access: http://www.zoores.ac.cn/EN/abstract/abstract3937.shtml

We describe a new species of the genus Tylototriton from Ingyin Taung Mt., Mohnyin Township, Kachin State, Myanmar, based on morphological and molecular evidence. The new species is assigned to the subgenus Tylototriton s. str. and is clearly distinct from all known congeners by the following characters: medium body size; thin, long tail, lacking lateral grooves; rough skin; truncate snout; wide, protruding supratemporal bony ridges on head, beginning at anterior corner of orbit; weak, almost indistinct sagittal ridge; long, thin limbs, broadly overlapping when adpressed along body; distinct, wide, non-segmented vertebral ridge; 13 or 14 rib nodules; brown to dark-brown background coloration with dull orange-brown to yellowish-brown markings on labial regions, parotoids, rib nodules, whole limbs, vent, and ventral tail ridge. We also briefly discuss biogeography and species diversity of the genus Tylototriton in Myanmar.