Cynops

Abstract: The monophyly of European newts of the genus Triturus within the family Salamandridae has for decades rested on presumably homologous behavioral and morphological characters. Molecular data challenge this hypothesis, but the phylogenetic position of Triturus within the Salamandridae has not yet been convincingly resolved. We addressed this issue and the temporal divergence of Triturus within the Salamandridae with novel Bayesian approaches applied to DNA sequence data from three mitochondrial genes (12S, 16S and cytb). We included 38 salamandrid species comprising all 13 recognized species of Triturus and 16 out of 17 salamandrid genera. A clade comprising all the "Newts" can be separated from the "True Salamanders" and Salamandrina clades. Within the "Newts" well-supported clades are: Tylototriton-Pleurodeles, the "New World Newts" (Notophthalmus-Taricha), and the "Modern Eurasian Newts" (Cynops, Pachytriton, Paramesotriton=together the "Modern Asian Newts", Calotriton, Euproctus, Neurergus and Triturus species). We found that Triturus is a non-monophyletic species assemblage, which includes four groups that are themselves monophyletic: (i) the "Large-Bodied Triturus" (six species), (ii) the "Small-Bodied Triturus" (five species), (iii) T. alpestris and (iv) T. vittatus. We estimated that the last common ancestor of Triturus existed around 64 million years ago (mya) while the root of the Salamandridae dates back to 95 mya. This was estimated using a fossil-based molecular dating approach and an explicit framework to select calibration points that least underestimated their corresponding nodes. Using the molecular phylogeny we mapped the evolution of life history and courtship traits in Triturus and found that several Triturus-specific courtship traits evolved independently.

Abstract: European newts (genus Triturus) are widely studied, but their phylogeny is not yet unambiguously resolved. Fragments of mitochondrial DNA experiencing different rates of evolution (the ATPase and 12S rRNA genes) were sequenced in order to test a phylogenetic hypothesis derived from biochemical and behavioral data. Well-supported branches of the existing phylogeny gained support in our study. The monophyletic origin of the hypothesized T. boscai — T. italicus clade remained ambiguous, whereas strong support was gained for the sister-taxon relationship of T. vulgaris and T. montandoni. The position of T. vittatus as a sister taxon to the T. marmoratus species group was also supported. The phylogenetic position of T. alpestris could not be clarified. With an in-group taxon sampling denser than in previous molecular phylogenetic studies and under the a priori selection of species from the genera Cynops, Neurergus and Paramesotriton as out-groups, the monophyly of Triturus was strongly supported. It cannot be excluded, however, that the presumed out-group actually belongs to the in-group, rendering Triturus paraphyletic as was concluded from recently published 12S and 16S rRNA sequence data.

Abstract: We compared 786 base pairs of cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA sequence to examine the evolutionary relationships among seven species belonging to three genera of Asian newts: Paramesotriton, Pachytriton, and Cynops. We find strong evidence supporting recognition of a clade for these genera. Although bootstrap support values are relatively low, both parsimony and likelihood analyses suggest that the species of Paramesotriton sampled form a monophyletic group with Paramesotriton caudopunctatus basal to the other three species. Cynops appears to be paraphyletic, with Pachytriton and Paramesotriton being more closely related to Cynops pyrrhogaster than to Cynops cyanurus. Pachytriton and Paramesotriton exhibit some morphological similarities and have more specialized breeding habits and environmental requirements than Cynops, suggesting that they shared an evolutionary history before diverging. Our morphological investigations corroborate previous studies that suggested Cynops is the most generalized ...