Confirmation of Tylototriton ziegleri Nishikawa, Matsui & Nguyen, 2013 in China, with discussion on the relationship between T. verrucosus Anderson, 1871 and T. panwaensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Thura, Espinoza & Murdoch, 2019 (Caudata, Salamandridae)

Abstract

The distribution of the Ziegler’s Crocodile Newt Tylototriton ziegleri Nishikawa, Matsui & Nguyen, 2013 in China has been controversial. This species was originally recorded uncertainly from Guangxi Autonomous Region, China. Subsequently, this species was recorded from Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, China. Thereafter, the record from Guangdong was denied and the record from Yunnan was questioned. Two specimens of Tylototriton Anderson, 1871 were collected from Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, in 2021. Phylogenetically, the sequences of these two specimens clustered with the sequences of T. ziegleri (including the holotype) from its type locality with strong support, and morphologically agree well with the original description of T. ziegleri. We confirm the record of T. ziegleri in China and present detailed collection site and morphological description of the specimens from China. In addition, we found that T. panwaensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Thura, Espinoza & Murdoch, 2019 may be the synonym of T. verrucosus Anderson, 1871. We discussed the relationship between T. verrucosus and T. panwaensis.