Luschan's salamander

Luschan's salamander
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Caudata
Family: Salamandridae
Genus: Lyciasalamandra
Species: L. luschani
Binomial name
Lyciasalamandra luschani
(Steindachner, 1891)
Synonyms

Molge luschani Steindachner, 1891
Mertensiella luschani – Wolterstorff, 1925
Salamandra luschani – Arnold & Burton, 1978
Lyciasalamandra luschani – Veith & Steinfartz, 2004

Luschan's salamander or the Lycian salamander (Lyciasalamandra luschani) is a species of salamander in the Salamandridae family found in Greece and Turkey.

Description

Luschan's salamander is brown with small yellow dots dorsally, yellow or whitish laterally, and flesh-colored ventrally. The eyes are prominent, as are the narrow paratoid glands. The tail is thin. Males have a protruding "spike" at the base of their tails on the dorsal surface. Adults may grow to 13 cm (5.1 in) in total length.[2]

Habitat and status

Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Subspecies

The three subspecies are:[3]

References

  1. ↑ Petros Lymberakis, Yakup Kaska, Yusuf Kumlutaş, Aziz Avci, Nazan Üzüm, Can Yeniyurt, Ferdi Akarsu, Varol Tok, Ismail H. Ugurtas, Murat Sevinç, Pierre-André Crochet, Theodore Papenfuss, Max Sparreboom, Sergius Kuzmin, Steven Anderson, Mathieu Denoël (2009). Lyciasalamandra luschani. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.
  2. ↑ Arnold, E.N and J.A. Burton. 1978. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. Collins. London ISBN 0002199645.
  3. ↑ Veith, Michael and Steinfartz, Sebastian (2004). "When non-monophyly results in taxonomic consequences – the case of Mertensiella within the Salamandridae (Amphibia: Urodela)" (PDF). Salamandra 40 (1): 67–80. ISSN 0036-3375.
  4. 1 2 3 Budak, A. & Göçmen, B. (2005). Herpetology. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 194, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir
  5. 1 2 3 (Turkish) Bayram Göçmen. Fen.ege.edu.tr. Retrieved on 2013-01-03.


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