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The Hainan Crocodile Salamander, T. hainanensis Fei, Ye & Yang (1984)

Appearance

While on first glance this species looks very similar to T. asperrimus, its closes relative is however T. vietnamensis (Weisrock et al. 2006). The Hainan Crocodile Salamander generally has better developed cranial crests (Fei et al. 1984), a prominent dorsal ridge and clearly visible dorso-lateral warts. Morphological characteristics shown in Fei (1999) such as a orange coloured upper tail and a light brown base colour are not characteristic of this species. The drawing in this publication is however extremely similar to T. vietnamensis, although unknown to science at the time.

Distribution and habitat

The Hainan crocodile salamander is one of the least studied species within the genus, mainly because of its secretive lifestyle and distribution. It is only known to inhabit the south Chinese island of Hainan, where it is found at two mountainous regions. Future studies have to prove if the individuals which are found near Tam Dao, northern Vietnam, belong to this species, since they have more similarities with T. hainanensis than with T. asperrimus, to which they currently belong (Böhme et al. 2005).

Status in captivity

Until recently there were no captive individuals known of T. hainanensis. Sadly, also this species has found its way into the market, with individuals appearing in China and Japan.

Look here for photos of this species.

Böhme, W., T. Schöttler, N. Q. Truong & J. Köhler (2005): A new species of salamander, genus Tylototriton (Urodela: Salamandridae), from northern Vietnam. Salamandra 41(4): 215-220.

Fei, L., C. Ye & R. Yang (1984): A new species and a new subspecies of the genus Tylototriton (Caudata: Salamandridae). – Acta Zoologica Sinica 30(1): 85-91.

Fei, L. (1999): Atlas of Amphibians of China. Technology Press, Zhengzhou, China: 40-41.

Weisrock, D. W., T. J. Papenfuss, J. R. Macey, S. N. Litvinchuk, R. Polymeni, I. H. Ugurtas, E. Zhao, H. Jowkar & A. Larson (2006):A molecular assessment of phylogenetic relationships and lineage accumulation rates within the family Salamandridae (Amphibia, Caudata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41: 368–383.