The Greek smooth newt or Greek newt (''Lissotriton graecus'') is a newt species found in the southern Balkans, from southern Croatia (

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

) over Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia to Greece and south-westernmost Bulgaria.

Willy Wolterstorff Willy Georg Wolterstorff (16 June 1864 in Calbe – 21 January 1943 in Magdeburg) was a German paleontologist and herpetologist. As a child he lost his hearing due to disease, thus finding it necessary to lip-reading, lip-read from an early ag ...

described the species in 1906 as ''Triton vulgaris graeca'', a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the smooth newt. After genetic data had suggested the smooth newt was a complex of distinct lineages, Dubois and Raffaëlli, in 2009, recognised several subspecies, including the Greek smooth newt, as distinct species. This was followed by subsequent authors. Molecular phylogenetics suggested that the closest relative of the Greek smooth newt is

Kosswig's smooth newt Kosswig's smooth newt (''Lissotriton kosswigi'') is a newt species found in northwestern Anatolia, east of the Bosphorus. Günther Erich Freytag described the species in 1955 as ''Triturus vulgaris kosswigii'', a subspecies of the smooth newt ...

(''Lissotriton kosswigi'') from northwestern Anatolia. The species differs from other species in the smooth newt species complex mainly in the male secondary characters during breeding season. The male dorsal crest is less than 1 mm high and has smooth edges. The belly has many small spots, but the lower tail fin is usually unspotted. The well-developed dorso-lateral folds give the body a square shape. Toe flaps on the hind feet are well developed. The species's conservation status has not yet been evaluated separately from the smooth newt by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. Since its range is much smaller than that of the smooth newt species complex as a whole, it is likely to be more vulnerable than previously estimated. It has been negatively impacted by the introduction of fish.

References

Lissotriton Amphibians of Europe Amphibians described in 1906 {{Salamandridae-stub