Buttoned Burmese crocodile newt
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Buttoned Burmese crocodile newt ( Tylototriton verrucosus ) |
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| Tylototriton verrucosus | ||||||||||||
| Anderson , 1871 |
The buttoned Burmese crocodile newt ( Tylototriton verrucosus ) is a tailed amphibian from the family of real salamanders (Salamandridae) and the type species of the genus of crocodile newts ( Tylototriton ). Genus and species were first described in 1871 by the Scottish zoologist John Anderson .
description
The buttoned Birman crocodile newt originally comprised two color morphs , which in 1995 were assigned to two separate species, Tylototriton verrucosus and Tylototriton shanjing . However, even in more recent revisions, not all authors follow this structure and in many publications the term Tylototriton verrucosus is still used in the original, expanded sense, which means that there is a large number of different descriptions of characteristics and when it comes to lifestyle information, it is often not clear which species is actually meant is.
Tylototriton verrucosus , as defined by Ronald A. Nussbaum and co-authors , can, including the tail, reach a length of up to 16.5 cm, according to other sources up to 17.5 cm. Males are generally a bit smaller and slimmer than females and can be recognized by their protruding cloaca , especially during the mating season .
The head with the rounded snout is slightly separated from the trunk. The forehead and the area between the eyes are flattened. On the side of the head, on the other hand, there are raised gland areas, which are also supported by the corresponding bone ridges of the skull. A flat crest in the area of the parietal bone and along the spine, on the other hand, is not supported by a bony structure. Two rows of 12–15 button-like, warty outgrowths (rib glands) can be seen on the back, giving the genus the name Tylototriton (after the ancient Greek " τυλωτός " " tylotos " = "knot-bearing", "swollen", "covered with calluses") ) brought in. The tail is laterally flattened and has a distinct fin edge. The basic color of the body is dark brown. The tail, fingers and toes are light brown to orange in color. The glands in the neck and back can also be light brown to reddish orange in color, especially during the mating season.
Tylototriton verrucosus differs from Tylototriton shanjing both genetically and in the lack of light orange color markings in the area of the skull and the rows of warts on the back and the lack of a bone support for the ridge in the forehead area. The exact species delimitation is unclear and is made more difficult by hybrids .
Spread, way of life
The species is common in large parts of Southeast Asia, especially in southern China , India , Myanmar , Nepal and Thailand . It may also appear in Vietnam , Bhutan, and Laos . However, the unclear species allocation also makes it difficult to determine a precise distribution area and some authors suspect that the occurrence of the species is limited to a relatively small area in western Yunnan and neighboring regions in Myanmar.
Tylototriton verrucosus prefers the vicinity of streams and ponds in dense primary and secondary forests , but also occurs in open areas and sometimes near human settlements. The species occurs in areas with an altitude between 950 and 2000 m above sea level.
Adult animals live predominantly terrestrially and hide most of the time under stones, tree trunks or under the leaves on the forest floor. They feed mainly on insects and their larvae , small mussels , snails and crustaceans as well as various worms , but also do not spurn frog spawn . The aquatic larvae initially feed on microorganisms at the bottom of the spawning waters and later shift to hunting for small worms and mosquito larvae.
In the wild, the average life expectancy is 10–15 years. In captivity, the animals can live up to 25 years.
The species is listed by the IUCN in the Red List of Threatened Species in the category LC ("Least Concern"; "not endangered").
Reproduction
The buttoned Birman crocodile newt reaches sexual maturity at the age of three to four years. The mating season begins with the onset of the first monsoon rains in March to May and can drag on until September. The actual mating act takes place under water. After clutching the two sexual partners , the male releases a sperm packet, which is then taken up by the female into the cloaca . The eggs are laid a few days after mating. The eggs - usually around 30, but can also be up to 100 - are laid by the female individually or in pairs and preferably on plants under water or on the bottom of the spawning waters, in rare cases also on land. The diameter of the eggs is less than 2.5 mm. At water temperatures of 17–20 ° C, the larvae hatch after three to four weeks. The hatch length is around 1.5 cm.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b J. Anderson: Description of a new Genus of Newts from Western Yunan. In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London , 1871, pp. 423-425, ( digitized ).
- ^ A b R. A. Nussbaum, ED Brodie Jr. & D. Yang: A Taxonomic Review of Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson (Amphibia: Caudata: Salamandridae). In: Herpetologica , Volume 51, Number 3, 1995, pp. 257-268, ( abstract ).
- ↑ Th. Ziegler, T. Hartmann, K. Van der Straeten, D. Karbe & W. Böhme: Captive breeding and larval morphology of Tylototriton shanjing Nussbaum, Brodie & Yang, 1995, with an updated key of the genus Tylototriton (Amphibia: Salamandridae). In: Der Zoologischer Garten , Volume 77, Number 4, 2008, pp. 246-260, ( abstract ).
- ↑ a b c d A. Hernandez, M. Hou & Sh. Sengupta: Tylototriton (Tylototriton) verrucosus Anderson, 1871. In: A. Hernandez (Ed.): Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) , Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft mbH, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89973-521 -5 , pp. 108-109, ( available ).
- ↑ a b M. Sparreboom: Salamanders of the Old World: The Salamanders of Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. KNNV Publishing, Zeist, 2014, ISBN 978-90-5011-485-1 , p. 347, ( reading sample )
- ↑ a b A. Hernandez, M. Hou & Sh. Sengupta: Tylototriton (Tylototriton) verrucosus Anderson, 1871. In: A. Hernandez (Ed.): Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) , Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft mbH, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89973-521 -5 , p. 111, ( available ).
- ↑ a b Tylototriton verrucosus in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species 2015.4. Posted by: Peter Paul van Dijk, Guinevere Wogan, Michael Wai Neng Lau, Sushil Dutta, Tej Kumar Shrestha, Debjani Roy & Nguyen Quang Truong, 2004. Accessed February 10, 2016.
- ↑ a b A. Hernandez, M. Hou & Sh. Sengupta: Tylototriton (Tylototriton) verrucosus Anderson, 1871. In: A. Hernandez (Ed.): Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) , Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft mbH, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89973-521 -5 , p. 114, ( available ).
- ↑ A. Hernandez, M. Hou & Sh. Sengupta: Tylototriton (Tylototriton) verrucosus Anderson, 1871. In: A. Hernandez (Ed.): Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) , Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft mbH, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89973-521 -5 , p. 116, ( available ).
- ↑ A. Hernandez, M. Hou & Sh. Sengupta: Tylototriton (Tylototriton) verrucosus Anderson, 1871. In: A. Hernandez (Ed.): Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) , Chimaira Buchhandelsgesellschaft mbH, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89973-521 -5 , pp. 117-122, ( available ).
