''Lyciasalamandra flavimembris'', the Marmaris Lycian salamander or Marmaris salamander, is a species 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 ...

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and is found along the southwestern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n coast between

Marmaris Marmaris () is a port city and tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in Muğla Province, southwest Turkey, along the shoreline of the Turkish Riviera. Although Marmaris is known for its honey, its main source of income is internationa ...

and Ula. It was first described as

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 ''Mertensiella luschani'', now ''

Lyciasalamandra luschani Luschan's salamander or Lycian salamander (''Lyciasalamandra luschani'') is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is found in the southwestern Anatolia in Turkey and adjacent Greece, in the island of Kastellorizo and its satelli ...

''.

Description

Adult males measure in snout–vent length and in total length. Adult females measure in snout–vent length and in total length. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''flavimembris'' refers to the yellow limbs of this species. The body has dark brown ground colour above, with silvery white spotting; the tail is slightly lighter. The

parotoid gland The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collective ...

s are yellow. There are also lightly coloured patches above the eyes. The venter is unpigmented, forming sharp contrast with the dorsal colouration.

Habitat and conservation

''Lyciasalamandra flavimembris'' is associated with rocky limestone outcrops and occurs at elevations up to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is often found in

maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is char ...

or pine woodlands. It is a rare species threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

from forest fires and by collection for scientific purposes. However, while IUCN (2009) concluded that "there is only limited habitat loss taking place", Göçmen and Kariş (2017) stated that the known populations "were under heavy

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2714510 flavimembris Endemic fauna of Turkey Amphibians of Turkey Amphibians described in 1995 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot