Two New Cases of Paedomorphosis in the Caucasian Newts: Ommatotriton ophryticus (The First Record) and Lissotriton vulgaris lantzi

Dmitry V. Skorinov, Oleg Novikov, Leo J. Borkin, Spartak N. Litvinchuk

Abstract


A female of the Caucasian banded newt, Ommatotriton ophryticus ophryticus (Berthold, 1846) with well-developed external gills was found in Malaya Ritsa Lake, Abkhazia, the western Caucasus. It is the first record of paedomorphosis for the genus. A paedomorphic Lissotriton vulgaris lantzi (Wolterstorff, 1914) and an overwintering larva of Triturus karelinii (Strauch, 1870) were captured in the settlement Machary, the eastern vicinity of Sukhum Town, Abkhazia. The geographic distribution of paedomorphic newts and overwintering larvae of Ommatotriton ophryticus ophryticus and Lissotriton vulgaris lantzi are mapped.

Keywords


Amphibia; Salamandridae; paedomorphosis; Ommatotriton ophryticus; Lissotriton vulgaris lantzi; the Caucasus

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2009-16-1-16-18

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