[Herpetology • 2022] Andrias jiangxiensis • Discovery of A Wild, Genetically Pure Chinese Giant Salamander (Urodela: Cryptobranchidae) creates New Conservation Opportunities

Andrias jiangxiensis 

 Lu, Wang, Chai, Yi, Peng, Murphy, Zhang & Che, 

in Chai, Lu, Yi, Dai, Weng, ... et Che, 2022.

 Jiangxi Giant Salamander | 江西大鲵  ||  DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.101

Abstract

 Effective conservation of threatened biota relies on accurate assessments and scientific guidance. As an unfortunate example, Chinese giant salamanders (Andrias, CGS) remain critically endangered in nature. Misguided conservation efforts, e.g., commercial propagation and releasing of millions of likely non-indigenous or interspecific hybrids, have further compromised conservation initiatives. Limited information on wild populations of CGS poses a significant conservation challenge. Following 18-month long field monitoring, we now report the discovery of a wild population of CGS in a closed nature reserve in Jiangxi Province, China. Genomic assessments reveal its genetic distinctiveness and do not detect genetic admixture with other species. Based on morphological and molecular evidences, we describe this CGS as a new species Andrias jiangxiensis sp. nov. This is the only known species of CGS today with a genetically pure, reproducing, in situ population. This discovery emphasizes the important role that closed nature reserves play in protecting species, and the necessity of integrating long-term field monitoring and genetic assessments. It sets a new pathway for discovering and conserving endangered species, especially for those biotas that are similarly being extirpated by anthropogenic translocations and overexploitation.

Key words: Conservation,  Human translocation, Genetic homogenization,  Field monitoring, Taxonomy 

Andrias jiangxiensis sp. nov. Ontogenetic variation in coloration pattern
A: Coloration of dorsum with spotted pattern in a juvenile with body length of ~20 cm.
B: Coloration of dorsum having larger patch patterns in an adult with body length over 50 cm.

 Photos by Mu-Rong Yi.

Andrias jiangxiensis sp. nov. Lu, Wang, Chai, Yi, Peng, Murphy, Zhang, and Che

Diagnosis: Andrias jiangxiensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) head length almost equal to width; (2) head and lower jaw relatively smooth, with small tubercles arranged irregularly; (3) lateral neck fold discontinuous with body fold at forelimb insertion; (4) finger III distinctly longer than finger I; and (5) dorsum red-brown or yellow-brown in life, with large, irregular black patches.

Etymology: The specific epithet “jiangxiensis” refers to the type locality of the new species in Jiangxi, China. It denotes the endemicity of the new species to Jiangxi based on our detailed population surveys. We suggest Jiangxi Giant Salamander as its English common name, and 江西大鲵 (Pinyin: Jiāng Xī Dà Ní) as its Chinese common name.

 

The habitat of Andrias jiangxiensis sp. nov. in Daqi Mountain, Jing’an County, Jiangxi, China
A, B: Summer (A) and winter (B) scene of 8–10 meters-wide stream with excellent vegetation coverage.
C: A breeding cave for A. jiangxiensis sp. nov. found in a backwater bay of the stream. Red arrow indicates the exit of the cave.
D: Enlarged area near the exit of the cave. Dashed circles in cyan indicate six larvae of A. jiangxiensis sp. nov., and the ones in white indicate the co-occurring shrimps and fishes.

Photos by Mu-Rong Yi.

 

Jing Chai, Chen-Qi Lu, Mu-Rong Yi, Nian-Hua Dai, Xiao-Dong Weng, Ming-Xiao Di, Yong Peng, Yong Tang, Qing-Hua Shan, Kai Wang, Huan-Zhang Liu, Hai-Peng Zhao, Jie-Qiong Jin, Ru-Jun Cao, Ping Lu, Lai-Chun Luo, Robert W. Murphy, Ya-Ping Zhang and Jing Che. 2022. Discovery of A Wild, Genetically Pure Chinese Giant Salamander creates New Conservation Opportunities. Zoological Research. 43(3): 469-480. DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.101

  facebook.com/ChineseGiantSalamandersOrg/photos/1907810529389601 

[Herpetology • 2019] Andrias sligoi • Historical Museum Collections Clarify the Evolutionary History of Cryptic Species Radiation in the World's Largest Amphibians

[upper] Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871) 

[lower] Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924) 

in Turvey, Marr, Barnes, et al., 2019.

  DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5257

Abstract

Inaccurate taxonomic assessment of threatened populations can hinder conservation prioritization and management, with human‐mediated population movements obscuring biogeographic patterns and confounding reconstructions of evolutionary history. Giant salamanders were formerly distributed widely across China, and are interpreted as a single species, Andrias davidianus. Previous phylogenetic studies have identified distinct Chinese giant salamander lineages but were unable to associate these consistently with different landscapes, probably because population structure has been modified by human‐mediated translocations for recent commercial farming. We investigated the evolutionary history and relationships of allopatric Chinese giant salamander populations with Next‐Generation Sequencing methods, using historical museum specimens and late 20th‐century samples, and retrieved partial or near‐complete mitogenomes for 17 individuals. Samples from populations unlikely to have been affected by translocations form three clades from separate regions of China, spatially congruent with isolation by either major river drainages or mountain ranges. Pliocene–Pleistocene divergences for these clades are consistent with topographic modification of southern China associated with uplift of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. General Mixed Yule Coalescent model analysis indicates that these clades represent separate species: Andrias davidianus (Blanchard, 1871) (northern Yangtze/Sichuan), Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924) (Pearl/Nanling), and an undescribed species (Huangshan). Andrias sligoi is possibly the world's largest amphibian. Inclusion of additional reportedly wild samples from areas of known giant salamander exploitation and movement leads to increasing loss of biogeographic signal. Wild Chinese giant salamander populations are now critically depleted or extirpated, and conservation actions should be updated to recognize the existence of multiple species.

Keywords: amphibian, Andrias, Chinese giant salamander, conservation, cryptic species, historical baselines, translocation

Andrias sligoi, probably originally prepared for inclusion in Boulenger (1924).

Artist unknown; courtesy of Zoological Society of London library.

Andrias sligoi (Boulenger, 1924)

Figure 1: Map of eastern Asia showing Chinese river drainages and mountain regions, and giant salamander sample localities: 1, Ya'an; 2, Meishan; 3, Zhongba/Chongqing; 4, Xi'an; 5, Yuanqu; 6, Zhangjiajie; 7, Huangshan; 8, northern Guangxi; 9, northern Guangdong; 10, Guangzhou; 11, Hong Kong. Arrows indicate direction of human‐mediated movement of giant salamanders associated with trade and farming. Gray hatching indicates distribution of giant salamanders in Japan based on IUCN (2018).

Inset, Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) found during 2013–2016 survey, assigned to clade B of Yan, Lü, et al. (2018); see Turvey et al., 2018

Samuel T. Turvey, Melissa M. Marr, Ian Barnes, Selina Brace, Benjamin Tapley, Robert W. Murphy, Ermi Zhao and Andrew A. Cunningham. 2019. Historical Museum Collections Clarify the Evolutionary History of Cryptic Species Radiation in the World's Largest Amphibians. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5257

New species of giant salamander is world's biggest amphibian phys.org/news/2019-09-species-giant-salamander-world-biggest.html via @physorg_com

mysocialgoodnews.com/new-species-of-giant-salamander-is-worlds-biggest-amphibian

  

[Paleontology • 2012] Chunerpeton tianyiensis stomach contents • Two Jurassic salamanders with stomach contents from Inner Mongolia, China

Chunerpeton tianyiensis with corixids preserved as stomach contents

Abstract 

Conchostracans and corixids are part of the diet of extant salamanders, an ecologically important fact in a lacustrine environment. Here we report their discovery in the guts of the aquatic Jurassic salamanders Jeholotriton paradoxus and Chunerpeton tianyiensis, formerly abundant at Daohugou, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China. This reveals something of the ecology of this important, ancient, vertebrate and invertebrate assemblage. The new fossil evidence indicates the highly selective feeding of these Jurassic salamanders; Jeholotriton preyed only on juveniles of the conchostracan Euestheria luanpingensis, and Chunerpeton only on the corixid Yanliaocorixa chinensis. We can infer the dietary differences as a consequence of different jaw and hyoid structures; and thus niche partitioning in Jurassic salamanders.

Key words: Jurassic caudate. Jeholotriton, Chunerpeton, stomach contents, Daohugou, Inner Mongolia     

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77132435

Li Ping, DONG, Di Ying, HUANG, Yuan, WANG. 2012. Two Jurassic salamanders with stomach contents from Inner Mongolia, China. Chinese Science Bulletin. 57 (1): 72-76. DOI: 10.1007/s11434-011-4729-z

http://csb.scichina.com:8080/Jwk_kxtb_en/EN/abstract/abstract505763.shtml

http://english.cas.cn/ST/RE/re_project/201202/t20120206_81094.shtml

[Paleontology • 2003] Chunerpeton tianyiensis • Earliest known crown-group salamanders from middle Jurassic, Inner Mongolia, China

Chunerpeton tianyiensis 

Gao and Chubin, 2003

Salamanders are a model system for studying the rates and patterns of the evolution of new anatomical structures. Recent discoveries of abundant Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous salamanders are helping to address these issues. Here we report the discovery of well-preserved Middle Jurassic salamanders from China, which constitutes the earliest known record of crown-group urodeles (living salamanders and their closest relatives). The new specimens are from the volcanic deposits of the Jiulongshan Formation (Bathonian), Inner Mongolia, China, and represent basal members of the Cryptobranchidae, a family that includes the endangered Asian giant salamander (Andrias) and the North American hellbender (Cryptobranchus). These fossils document a Mesozoic record of the Cryptobranchidae, predating the previous record of the group by some 100 million years. This discovery provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the divergence of the Cryptobranchidae from the Hynobiidae had taken place in Asia before the Middle Jurassic period.

Amphibia Linnaeus, 1758

Lissamphibia Haeckel, 1866

Caudata Scopoli, 1777

Urodela Dumeril, 1806

Cryptobranchoidea Dunn, 1922

Cryptobranchidae Fitzinger, 1826

Chunerpeton tianyiensis gen. et sp. nov.

Gao, K. Q., and Shubin, N. H., 2003. Earliest known crown-group salamanders: Nature. 422. 424-428. doi:10.1038/nature01491.

http://www.palaeocritti.com/by-group/lissamphibia/chunerpeton

[Paleontology • 2012] Habitat tracking, range dynamics and palaeoclimatic significance of Eurasian giant salamanders (Cryptobranchidae: Zaissanurus, Andrias) — indications for elevated Central Asian humidity during Cenozoic global warm periods

Abstract

Environmental fluctuations are a driving force in vertebrate evolution, but cryptobranchids (giant salamanders) show little morphologic change since the Jurassic. Here we analyze their fossil distribution in the Cenozoic of Eurasia and show that morphologic stasis is also maintained by stable environments, making giant salamanders an ideal proxy-group for environmental and palaeoclimatic studies. The climate space of recent and fossil cryptobranchids is best characterized by high humidity with mean annual precipitation values over 900 mm. The recorded patchiness of their fossil record can be explained by habitat tracking and/or range expansion from higher altitudes into lowland settings during humid periods with increased basinal relief. In Central Asia cryptobranchids are recorded from five intervals, four of them are global warm periods: Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, Late Oligocene warming, Miocene Climate Optimum, and Mio-Pliocene transition. This distribution suggests that during global warmth the Asian cold high pressure zone during winter months may be weak or absent, thus moist westerly winds penetrate far into the continent. The presence of cryptobranchids also indicates that the aridification across the Eocene–Oligocene boundary as reported from Mongolia and northwestern China, does not occur in the Zaysan Basin, probably due to increased upslope precipitation in the rising Altai Mountains

Highlights: 

► Giant Salamanders as proxy-organisms for reconstructing past humidity 

► Their climate space is characterized by high humidity with MAP values over 900 mm. 

► Cenozoic distribution suggests high Central Asian humidity during global warm periods.

Keywords: Giant salamanders, Environmental stasis, Palaeoprecipitation, Central Asia, Global warm periods

2010. The palaeoclimatic significance of Eurasian Giant Salamanders (Cryptobranchidae: Zaissanurus, Andrias) – indications for elevated humidity in Central Asia during global warm periods (Eocene, late Oligocene warming, Miocene Climate Optimum)

http://www.wahre-staerke.com/~madelaine/EGU2010_Andrias.pdf

Böhme, M., et al. 2012. Habitat tracking, range dynamics and palaeoclimatic significance of Eurasian giant salamanders (Cryptobranchidae) — indications for elevated Central Asian humidity during Cenozoic global warm periods. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.04.032

http://www.wahre-staerke.com/~madelaine/cryptobranchid.pdf