Balkan-Anatolian crested newt

Balkan-Anatolian crested newt
Museum specimen
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Caudata
Family:	Salamandridae
Subfamily:	Pleurodelinae
Genus:	Triturus
Species:	T. ivanbureschi
Binomial name
Triturus ivanbureschi Arntzen & Wielstra, 2013
Western (green) and eastern (blue) gene pools, with suspected hybrid zone (dotted outline) west of the Bosphorus
Synonyms[1]
Triton cristatus karelinii forma bureschi Wolterstorff, 1925 Triton cristatus karelini forma byzanthina Wolterstorff, 1923 Triturus karelinii arntzeni Litvinchuk, Borkin, Džukić and Kalezić 1999 Triturus (Triturus) karelinii arntzeni Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009 Triturus arntzeni Espregueira Themudo, Wielstra, and Arntzen, 2009

The Balkan-Anatolian crested newt or Buresch's crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi) is a newt species of the crested newt species complex in genus Triturus, found in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia.^[2]

It was originally described as a subspecies of the southern crested newt, "Triturus karelinii arntzeni", in 1999,^[3] and later considered a full species when genetic data showed it to be distinct.^[4] After it was suggested the type specimen of "T. arntzeni" belonged in fact to the Macedonian crested newt (T. macedonicus), the species was redescribed, with a new type specimen, as T. ivanbureschi in 2013. The species epithet was chosen in honour of Bulgarian herpetologist Ivan Buresh.^[2]

Its distribution ranges from the Southeastern Balkan peninsula (Western Macedonia, Northwestern Greece, Bulgaria, Eastern Thrace) to Western and Northern Anatolia. An isolated population, surrounded by other crested newt species, occurs in Serbia. Genetic data suggest that the Eastern populations may represent another distinct species, with a hybrid zone in Northwestern Anatolia. The southern crested newt (T. karelinii) is the most closely related species, found on Crimea, and in the Caucasus and south of the Caspian Sea.^[2]

At the western and northern borders of its range, this species hybridises with the Macedonian crested newt, the Danube crested newt (T. dobrogicus), and the northern crested newt (T. cristatus).^[5] The type specimen of "T. arntzeni" is in fact a hybrid with the Macedonian crested newt, so that this name is a synonym both for that species and the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt.^[6]

References

1. Frost DR. (2015). "Triturus ivanbureschi. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0". New York, USA: American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
2. Wielstra, B.; Litvinchuk, S. N.; Naumov, B.; Tzankov, N.; Arntzen, J. W. (2013). "A revised taxonomy of crested newts in the Triturus karelinii group (Amphibia: Caudata: Salamandridae), with the description of a new species". Zootaxa 3682 (3): 441. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3682.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334.
3. Litvinchuk, S.N.; Brokin, L.J.; Džukić, G.; Kalezić, M.L.; Khalturin, M.D.; Rosanov, J.M. (1999). "Taxonomic status of Triturus karelinii on the Balkans, with some comments about other crested newt taxa". Russian Journal of Herpetology 6 (2): 153–163.
4. Espregueira Themudo, G.; Wielstra, B.; Arntzen, J.W. (2009). "Multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes resolve the branching order of a rapid radiation of crested newts (Triturus, Salamandridae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52 (2): 321–328. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.024. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 19348957.
5. Arntzen, J.W.; Wielstra, B.; Wallis, G.P. (2014). "The modality of nine Triturus newt hybrid zones assessed with nuclear, mitochondrial and morphological data". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 113 (2): 604–622. doi:10.1111/bij.12358. ISSN 0024-4066.
6. Wielstra, B.; Arntzen, J. W. (2014). "Kicking Triturus arntzeni when it’s down: large-scale nuclear genetic data confirm that newts from the type locality are genetically admixed". Zootaxa 3802 (3): 381. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3802.3.7. ISSN 1175-5334.