Wang Zhenqi, Othman Siti N, Qiu Zhixin, Lu Yiqiu, Prasad Vishal Kumar, Dong Yuran, Lu Chang-Hu, Borzée Amaël
The Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
Laboratory of Animal Behaviour and Conservation, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
Animals (Basel). 2023 May 17;13(10):1661. doi: 10.3390/ani13101661.
It is important to describe lineages before they go extinct, as we can only protect what we know. This is especially important in the case of microendemic species likely to be relict populations, such as salamanders in southern China. Here, we unexpectedly sampled individuals in Fujian province, China, and then worked on determining their taxonomic status. We describe sp. nov. based on molecular and morphological data. The lineage is deeply divergent and clusters with the other southern Chinese species based on the concatenated mtDNA gene fragments (>1500 bp), being the sister group to based on the gene fragment, despite their geographic distance. In terms of morphology, the species can be identified through discrete characters enabling identification in the field by eye, an unusual convenience in species. In addition, we noted some interesting life history traits in the species, such as vocalization and cannibalism. The species is likely to be incredibly rare, over a massively restricted distribution, fitting the definition of Critically Endangered following several lines of criteria and categories of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
在谱系灭绝之前对其进行描述很重要，因为我们只能保护我们所了解的物种。对于可能是残遗种群的微特有物种而言，情况尤其如此，比如中国南方的蝾螈。在此，我们意外地在中国福建省采集了样本，然后致力于确定它们的分类地位。我们基于分子和形态学数据描述了一个新物种。基于串联的线粒体DNA基因片段（>1500 bp），该谱系分歧很大，并且与中国南方的其他物种聚类，尽管地理距离较远，但基于该基因片段，它是[某物种]的姐妹群。在形态方面，该物种可通过离散特征来识别，这些特征能让人们在野外仅凭肉眼识别，这在[该类]物种中是一种不寻常的便利。此外，我们还注意到该物种一些有趣的生活史特征，比如发声和同类相食。该物种可能极其罕见，分布范围极为有限，根据世界自然保护联盟濒危物种红色名录的多项标准和类别，符合极度濒危的定义。
