identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03E78784CB6EFFB4212EFB1BFC64B317.text	03E78784CB6EFFB4212EFB1BFC64B317.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson 1871	<div><p>Review of courtship behaviors of Tylototriton verrucosus group</p> <p>Significant differences in pre-spermatophore-deposition courtship behavior have been reported among different populations of Tylototriton verrucosus sensu lato from India (Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001; Deuti and Hedge 2007), upper Myanmar (Boulenger 1920), southwest China (unpubl. data), and from the pet-trade with unknown locality (Sparreboom 2014). For the Indian populations, Roy and Mushahidunnabi (2001) reported that individual newts display extensive nose rubbing, tail fanning, and ventral amplexus (the male clasps the female’s forelimbs with his forelimbs, with his dorsal side facing her ventral side). Similar amplexus behavior was also observed for the upper Myanmar population (Boulenger 1920). However, Sparreboom (1999, 2014) reported only tail fanning behavior in T. cf. verrucosus for pet-trade individuals from an unknown locality, and he did not observe extensive nose rubbing or ventral amplexus. For the topotypic individuals of T. verrucosus from southwestern Yunnan Province, China, Yuan observed nose-rubbing and tail-fanning behavior, but not ventral amplexus (unpubl. data).</p> <p>Recently, several new species have been described from the T. verrucosus complex, including T. himalayanus from Nepal (Khatiwada et al. 2015) and T. shanorum from northern Myanmar (Nishikawa et al. 2014). Given the close geographic distance between the type localities of the two newly described species and the localities of previously identified T. cf. verrucosus populations with different courtship behaviors from India and Myanmar (Boulenger 1920; Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001), differences in courtship behavior among these two populations may represent differential behaviors of T. himalayanus and T. shanorum respectively, and ventral amplexus may be a characteristic behavioral pattern that differentiates T. himalayanus and T. shanorum from T. verrucosus sensu stricto.</p> <p>In contrast, Hernandez (2016) reported ventral amplexus during courtship in T. verrucosus sensu stricto. However, the reference Hernandez cited describes courtship behavior of T. verrucosus populations from Thailand (Humphrey and Bain 1990), which, based on Hernandez’s book, are now considered as T. uyenoi Nishikawa, Khonsue, Pomchote, Matsui 2013, instead of T. verrucosus sensu stricto. Furthermore, the photographic evidence of ventral amplexus of T. verrucosus sensu stricto that Hernandez (2016) reported is of pet-trade individuals in France with no known locality information; and based on the external morphology of the individuals in the photo, these individuals should be identified as T. shanorum, as Hernandez suggested in his own book. Therefore, we recommend that further behavioral studies are needed to confirm the courtship behavior of T. verrucosus sensu stricto using topotypic individuals of the species.</p> </div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E78784CB6EFFB4212EFB1BFC64B317	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Wang, Kai;Yuan, Zhiyong;Zhong, Guanghui;Li, Guangyu;Verrell, Paul A.	Wang, Kai, Yuan, Zhiyong, Zhong, Guanghui, Li, Guangyu, Verrell, Paul A. (2017): Reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi (Urodela: Salamandridae), with suggestions on its conservation. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 145) 11 (2): 33-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13236375
03E78784CB6FFFB7212EF9A3FD88B245.text	03E78784CB6FFFB7212EF9A3FD88B245.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Tylototriton yangi (Hou, Li, Lv 2012)	<div><p>Comparative reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi</p> <p>Based on our results, the reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi differs substantially from what is known for other species of the T. verrucosus group, especially in terms of courtship behavior and egg morphology (Table 1). The courtship behavior of T. yangi is most similar to those of Indian populations of T. cf. verrucosus, in which they all court in water, exhibit tail-fanning movements, and display extensive nudging and rubbing behaviors (Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001). However, the Indian population of T. cf. verrucosus displays ventral amplexus during its courtship (Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001), which was not observed in the courtship of T. yangi in our study. Compared to populations of T. cf. verrucosus from the pet-trade with unknown localities, Tylototriton yangi displays extensive nose rubbing and nudging (sniffing?) behavior prior to tail fanning, which were not observed in pet-trade T. cf. verrucosus (Sparreboom 1999, 2014). In addition to differences in courtship behavior, Tylototriton yangi also differs from all populations of T. verrucosus sensu lato in egg morphology, in which eggs of T. yangi do not possess an adhesive outer layer, whereas those of the latter are adhesive and attached to aquatic vegetation (Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001; Deuti and Hedge 2007; Wang, pers. observ.).</p> <p>For other species, Tylototriton yangi differs from T. shanjing by courtship site (aquatic vs. mainly terrestrial), showing extensive nudging (sniffing?) and nose-rubbing behavior, and non-adhesive, singular eggs (vs. adhesive eggs sometimes in small clutches) (Ziegier et al. 2008; Li et al. 2012), and from T. kweichowensis, T. taliangensis, and T. pseudoverrucosus by showing extensive nose rubbing behavior and absence of ventral amplexus (Hu 1994; Fleck 1997; Tian et al. 1998; Fei et al. 2006; Hernandez 2016).</p> <p>In contrast, recently Hernandez (2016) reported ventral amplexus during courtship in T. yangi, without references or photographic evidence, and he noted males of the species would develop rugose nuptial pads on their forelimbs during the breeding season, as in the amplectant salamandrid Pleurodeles. However, such amplexus behavior and the development of nuptial pads during breeding season were not observed during our field or captive observations. Further study is needed to confirm the presence of amplexus behavior in T. yangi.</p> </div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E78784CB6FFFB7212EF9A3FD88B245	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Wang, Kai;Yuan, Zhiyong;Zhong, Guanghui;Li, Guangyu;Verrell, Paul A.	Wang, Kai, Yuan, Zhiyong, Zhong, Guanghui, Li, Guangyu, Verrell, Paul A. (2017): Reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi (Urodela: Salamandridae), with suggestions on its conservation. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 145) 11 (2): 33-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13236375
03E78784CB6CFFB7212EFD1DFC84B3E1.text	03E78784CB6CFFB7212EFD1DFC84B3E1.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Tylototriton Anderson 1871	<div><p>Importance of chemical communication in courtship of Tylototriton</p> <p>In newts and salamanders, olfactory signals are involved in intersexual recognition both within and among species (Dawley 1984, 1986). The extensive snout nudging and rubbing behavior patterns that we observed in male T. yangi suggests that they may obtain olfactory information from females during courtship: nudging may be sniffing. It may be that glands on the heads and in the warts of these newts show sexual dimorphism in glandular products, enabling discrimination between the sexes. On the other hand, Li et al. (2012) suggested that T. shanjing did not show any sniffing or nudging behavior and seemed to rely on visual cues at the beginning stage of courtship. Given these apparent differences in cues used in recognition processes among Tylototriton species and examples of behavioral isolation through chemical recognition in desmognathine salamanders (Tilley et al. 1990; Verrell and Mabry 2000; Mabry and Verrell 2004), it is possi- ble that behavioral isolation also is present among species in the genus Tylototriton. Further work is needed to determine whether these behavioral differences, occurring before spermatophore deposition and at a time when species recognition might be expected to occur, result in decreased successes of heterospecific encounters (Verrell and Mabry 2003). Continued work on systematics and reproductive biology will surely reveal more about pattern and process in the evolutionary history of the genus Tylototriton generally, and the T. verrucosus group specifically.</p> </div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E78784CB6CFFB7212EFD1DFC84B3E1	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Wang, Kai;Yuan, Zhiyong;Zhong, Guanghui;Li, Guangyu;Verrell, Paul A.	Wang, Kai, Yuan, Zhiyong, Zhong, Guanghui, Li, Guangyu, Verrell, Paul A. (2017): Reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi (Urodela: Salamandridae), with suggestions on its conservation. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 145) 11 (2): 33-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13236375
03E78784CB6CFFB9212EF91CFE96B709.text	03E78784CB6CFFB9212EF91CFE96B709.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Tylototriton yangi	<div><p>Conservation of Tylototriton yangi</p> <p>Our field observations indicate that scattered permanent ponds and other permanent bodies of stationary water are used for reproduction by T. yangi. Not all available water sources were occupied by newts during the duration of this study (e.g., the reservoir, and PBP#10, PBP#15, and PBP#16), and some pools (e.g., PBP#13 and PBP#14) were used by more newts than the others. These differences in pool use may be due to ecological factors such as nearby canopy coverage, amount of aquatic vegetation, water depth, food availability, and predation risk. We found the most newts in deep pools (30–50 cm in depth) with no large aquatic predators (e.g., large fish), some but not dense aquatic vegetation and dense surrounding terrestrial vegetation. These may be key factors for breeding site selection by T. yangi. Further studies are needed to determine the details of factors that affect breeding-site selection.</p> <p>Having a restricted range in southern Yunnan Province of China, Tylototriton yangi faces a number of serious anthropogenic challenges. Habitat loss, especially of breeding habitat, is the greatest threat to the species (Hernandez 2016). Heavy tin/coal mining and accompanying deforestation were observed at our field sites during this study. This contaminated remaining potential breeding ponds and split terrestrial habitats into fragmented patches (Fig. 6). In addition to the habitat loss, illegal collections are the second most serious threats to the persistence of local populations of T. yangi. Local people harvest breeding adults from May to July every year, which are then dried and sold for traditional medicines. In addition, individuals are collected and sold alive as exotic pets in the illegal pet-trade. In fact, T. yangi, which was confused with T. kweichowensis, was the most common species of Tylototriton sold in the U.S. market before the official importation ban of Asian newts (Rowley et al. 2016), and illegally collected animals have also reached European countries such as France, Germany, and Russia (Hernandez 2016).</p> <p>Because of these anthropogenic challenges, we recommend increasing attention to the conservation of the endemic species, Tylototriton yangi. Specifically, we recommend: 1) adding T. yangi to the List of Endangered Species of China as a Class II nationally protected species; 2) increasing law enforcement of the Wildlife Protection Act of China during the breeding season of the species from May to August, especially increasing patrol frequency in the pet markets and traditional medicine markets in Mengzi and Gejiu of Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, China, 3) conserving existing adult habitats, particularly at the type locality in Gejiu, through restoration of natural plant communities and construction of artificial breeding ponds; and 4) initiating captive-breeding programs in research institutions in China, giving hope for subsequent release of newts to augment natural populations. Lastly, following the recommendation by Fei et al. (2012) and IUCN assessment criteria (extent of occurrence estimated to be &lt;20,000 km 2, severely fragmented, and inferred continued decline in extent of occurrence and area of occupancy), we recommend the listing of T. yangi as Vulnerable under IUCN assessment criteria.</p> <p>Acknowledgements. —We would like to thank Mr. Jiajun Zhou for providing the locality information, Mr. Qiang Li for his great assistance in the field, Dr. Kevin Messenger, Dr. Max Sparreboom, and Dr. Gernot Vogel for providing and translating literature for us, Ms. Jingting Liu for editing photographs, and Dr. Jesse Brunner for providing insightful comments on the manuscript. This research was generously supported by the Undergraduate Herpetological Research Grant from Chicago Herpetological Society and the MHS Grant in Herpetological Conservation and Research from Minnesota Herpetological Society.</p></div> 	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E78784CB6CFFB9212EF91CFE96B709	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Wang, Kai;Yuan, Zhiyong;Zhong, Guanghui;Li, Guangyu;Verrell, Paul A.	Wang, Kai, Yuan, Zhiyong, Zhong, Guanghui, Li, Guangyu, Verrell, Paul A. (2017): Reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi (Urodela: Salamandridae), with suggestions on its conservation. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 145) 11 (2): 33-43, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13236375
