Molecular data confirm the presence of the Southern Crested Newt Triturus karelinii (Strauch, 1870) in Anatolia

Abstract

Two species of newts of the genus Triturus are known to occur in Turkiye: Triturus ivanbureschi Wielstra & Arntzen, 2013 and T. anatolicus Wielstra & Arntzen, 2016. Here, we used the mitochondrial ND4 gene as a genetic marker to determine the taxonomic position of a new population found in Posof, Ardahan, northeastern Anatolia. It was shown the population belongs to T. karelinii (Strauch, 1870), which is thus the third species of Triturus present in Turkiye.