Ventral and lateral spot patterns differentiation between three smooth newt species (Amphibia: Salamandridae: Lissotriton)

Dmitriy Skorinov; Emin Bozkurt; Kurtuluş Olgun; Spartak N. Litvinchuk

doi:10.17109/AZH.68.3.261.2022

Dmitriy Skorinov Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Pr. 4, 194064, Saint-Petersburg, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9916-2098
Emin Bozkurt Çankırı Karatekin University, Eldivan Health Services Vocational High School, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Çankırı, Turkey https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8963-631X
Kurtuluş Olgun Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Aydın, Turkey https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9782-5492
Spartak N. Litvinchuk Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Pr. 4, 194064, Saint-Petersburg, Russia & agestan State University, Gadzhiyev St. 43-a, 367000, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7447-6691

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17109/AZH.68.3.261.2022

Keywords: tailed amphibians, morphological variation, external characters, spotted colouration, newt, Lissotriton

Abstract

The location, shape and area of dark spots on the belly, throat and sides of the body of three closely related species of smooth newts (Lissotriton kosswigi, L. schmidtleri and L. vulgaris) were analysed. Differences were found between species and sexes in the location and shape of dark spots on the belly, throat and lateral surfaces of the body. Discriminant analysis of these spot characteristics allows to identificate of males of all three species with a high degree of confidence (85–91%). In females, only L. vulgaris was correctly distinguished from the other two species (accuracy 81–94%). Anatolian and Thracian populations of L. schmidtleri have very similar patterns of dark spots, which confirm their conspecificity. The differences in the location and size of dark spots make possible successful identification of the species during field research and study of museum specimens. The developed method could be useful for comparative studies of other animal species which have spotted camouflage or aposematic colouration.

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