A new species of Pachytriton (Caudata: Salamandridae) from Jiangxi, China, Honoring the partnership of Liang Fei and Changyuan Ye

Zhang, Caiwen, Xu, Shihang, Zhang, Hailin, Yi, Feng, Shen, Yanpeng, Yu, Lei, Wang, Hui, Yang, Jun, Ye, Xinlai, Orozco Ter Wengel, Pablo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7951-4148, Wang, Bin, Xie, Feng, Li, Cheng, Jiang, Jianping and Zhang, Baowei 2026. A new species of Pachytriton (Caudata: Salamandridae) from Jiangxi, China, Honoring the partnership of Liang Fei and Changyuan Ye. Asian Herpetological Research 17 (2) , pp. 107-121. 10.3724/ahr.2095-0357.2025.0060

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Abstract

The genus Pachytriton is distributed in eastern and southern China, with its taxonomic diversity significantly expanded through advances in molecular systematics. To investigate the distribution and evolutionary history of Pachytriton feii, this study surveyed the Huangshan-Huaiyu Mountains Biodiversity Conservation Priority Area from April to May 2025. Based on detailed morphological measurements and phylogenetic analyses of two mitochondrial genes (Cytb and ND2) and the nuclear gene RAG1, one undescribed species (later formally named Pachytriton yeae sp. nov.) was discovered and formally described. Phylogenetically, the new species forms a strongly supported independent clade (maximum likelihood, ML = 99%; Bayesian posterior probability, BPP = 0.99) as the sister group to P. feii, with uncorrected genetic distances of 5.5% (Cytb) and 7.1% (ND2)—both exceeding the generally recognized species-level genetic threshold for amphibians. Morphologically, the new species differs from P. feii by the presence of a distinctive silver tail stripe (absent in P. feii), as well as larger head width (HW), head length (HL), chest width (CW), and tail height (TH) in both sexes. It also exhibits sex-specific traits: males have longer forelimbs (FL) and a wider internasal distance (IND), while females have longer tails (TL). This new species raises the known species count of Pachytriton to eleven, confirming that the biodiversity of the subtropical mountains of eastern China was underestimated. Given its restricted distribution and threats from deforestation and hydropower development, urgent conservation prioritization in the Huaiyu Mountains is needed to protect the new taxon and co-occurring endemic amphibians.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Biosciences
Publisher:	SCIENCE PRESS
ISSN:	2095-0357
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 July 2026
Date of Acceptance:	15 May 2026
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2026 08:25
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188165

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