''Euproctus'', the European mountain salamanders, is a genus of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

s in the family

Salamandridae Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is v ...

from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Species

There are two species: The

Pyrenean brook salamander The Pyrenean brook salamander or Pyrenean newt ( an, guardafuents pirenenco; ca, tritó pirinenc; eu, uhandre piriniarra; es, tritón pirenaico), ''Calotriton asper'', is a largely aquatic species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It ...

used to be included in this genus as ''Euproctus asper'', but was moved to ''

Calotriton ''Calotriton'', or the European brook newts, is a genus of newts native to the Pyrenees and central Catalonia ( Catalan Pre-coastal Range). These amphibians were formerly placed within genus ''Euproctus'', but the genus was resurrected in 2005. I ...

'' in 2005. Its superficial similarity with ''Euproctus'' likely represents

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

: strongly depressed head and body, and reduction or even absence of lungs, are adaptations to fast-running, well-oxygenated mountain streams.

References

External links

Newts Amphibians of Europe Amphibian genera Taxa named by Giuseppe Gené Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Salamandridae-stub