''Paramesotriton'', also known as warty newts or Asian warty newts, 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 t ...

s in the family Salamandridae. The genus is found in southwestern and southern China and in northern Vietnam. Most of the species are

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 else ...

to China, and the majority of them have been described recently, since 2008. The genus includes both pond and stream dwellers.

Taxonomy and systematics

The

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of ''Paramesotriton'' is ''

Laotriton The Laos warty newt (''Laotriton laoensis'') is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is found only in the Saysomboun Special Zone and Phou Kout District in Xiangkhouang Province, Laos. Its natural habitats are subtropical o ...

''. The genus may be divided into two species groups ( subgenera), ''Paramesotriton'' and ''Allomesotriton''.

Description

''Paramesotriton'' have a dark brown dorsum with a prominent vertebral ridge, often also a pair of lateral ridges. The tail is high and laterally compressed. Skin texture varies from relatively smooth to very rough. '' Paramesotriton hongkongensis'' has toxic skin and ova, as has been shown for many other salamanders.

Species

''Paramesotriton'' contains the following 14 species: * '' Paramesotriton aurantius'' Yuan, Wu, Zhou, and Che, 2016 * '' Paramesotriton caudopunctatus'' (Liu and Hu, 1973) — spot-tailed warty newt * '' Paramesotriton chinensis'' (Gray, 1859) — Chinese warty newt * '' Paramesotriton deloustali'' (Bourret, 1934) —

Tam Dao salamander The Tam Dao salamander or Vietnamese salamander (''Paramesotriton deloustali'') is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae found only in Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or t ...

, Vietnamese salamander * '' Paramesotriton fuzhongensis'' Wen, 1989 — Wanggao warty newt * '' Paramesotriton guangxiensis'' (Huang, Tang, and Tang, 1983) — Guangxi warty newt * '' Paramesotriton hongkongensis'' (Myers and Leviton, 1962) — Hong Kong warty newt, Hong Kong newt * '' Paramesotriton labiatus'' (Unterstein, 1930) * '' Paramesotriton longliensis'' Li, Tian, Gu, and Xiong, 2008 * ''

Paramesotriton maolanensis ''Paramesotriton maolanensis'' is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae. It is known only from Maolan National Nature Reserve in Libo County, southern Guizhou, China. It is a relatively large member of its genus, reaching a total l ...

'' Gu, Chen, Tian, Li, and Ran, 2012 * '' Paramesotriton qixilingensis'' Yan, Zhao, Jiang, Hou, He, Murphy, and Che, 2014 * '' Paramesotriton wulingensis'' Wang, Tian, and Gu, 2013 * '' Paramesotriton yunwuensis'' Wu, Jiang, and Hanken, 2010 * '' Paramesotriton zhijinensis'' Li, Tian, and Gu, 2008 — Zhijin warty newt

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2468331 Amphibian genera Amphibians of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot