A subspecies of marbled newt (Triturus marmoratus) in the Iberian Peninsula newly resolved from congruent nuclear and mitochondrial dna data

Abstract

The herpetofauna of the Iberian Peninsula is relatively well-researched, yet detailed studies, at least in part relying on molecular genetic data, continue to reveal taxa new to science, mostly species and subspecies. Newts of the genus Triturus are one such group with undiscovered yet taxonomically relevant variation, as shown by the recent description of new (sub)species of pygmy newts (T. pygmaeus, T. rudolfi). The marbled newt, Triturus marmoratus, shows an equally deep and geographically coherent spatial-genetic diversification. It is here shown that a northern and a southern group are characterized by different mitochondrial dna profiles and are also differentiated in morphometry and colouration pattern. With no firm evidence for selection against intermediate genotypes, the southern group is described at the subspecies level, as T. marmoratus harmannis ssp. nov. The subspecies’ contact zone is situated at ca. 41.5 northern latitude and stretches from the Atlantic coast near Porto, Portugal to the northeast of Madrid, Spain.