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Issue: Vol. 5620 No. 3: 10 Apr. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-04-10
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5620.3.1
Page range: 401-425
Abstract views: 162
PDF downloaded: 17

Taxonomic relationships between two species of Tylototriton in Shan State, central Myanmar (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae)

Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Department of Zoology, University of Taunggyi, Taunggyi 06011, Shan, Myanmar.
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Environment and Water Studies Department, University of Yangon, University Avenue Road, Kamayut Township 11041, Yangon, Myanmar. Department of Zoology, University of Yangon, University Avenue Road, Kamayut Township 11041, Yangon, Myanmar.
Department of Zoology, University of Yangon, University Avenue Road, Kamayut Township 11041, Yangon, Myanmar. Department of Zoology, Yangon University of Distance Education, Thahton Road, Kamayut Township 11041, Yangon, Myanmar.
Amphibia Synonymy Mitochondrial DNA Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) External morphology Color pattern Newt

Abstract

We assessed the taxonomic relationship of Tylototriton ngarsuensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Thura, Espinoza, Grismer, Murdoch & Lin, 2018 and T. shanorum Nishikawa, Matsui & Rao (2014) using partial sequencing of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism obtained by multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeat genotyping by sequencing (MIG-seq), and morphological data. The phylogenetic tree generated using mtDNA showed that the populations of the two species, which were identified by morphological characters, did not separate into two distinct clades, but they were mixed into one clade. Furthermore, the analyses of MIG-seq showed that the populations were grouped according to their locality, regardless of species classification. The mtDNA genetic distances among samples were very small at the intraspecific level. Finally, none of significant difference between T. ngarsuensis and T. shanorum was recognized in morphological characters including diagnostic ones described in the original descriptions. These results strongly suggest that T. ngarsuensis is a junior synonym of T. shanorum.

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How to Cite

Onishi, Y., Kyaw, P.T., Nishikawa, K., Myint, K. & Thwe, T.L. (2025) Taxonomic relationships between two species of Tylototriton in Shan State, central Myanmar (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae). Zootaxa, 5620 (3), 401–425. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5620.3.1