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New Crocodile Newt discovered!

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FrogEyes

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This was already reported, first in taxonomy and then in the crocodile newts section.

I would note that contrary to the article, this isn't a new discovery. This species has been known for some time, under various tentative identifications. For a couple of years at least, it has been identified in published literature as an undescribed and distinct species. There are actually a fair number of unnamed Tylototriton pending description. Most previously-recognized species seem to be composed of more than one genetically and morphologically distinct forms. The plain-colored eastern forms [Yaotriton] in particular are made up of far more than the former one species they were contained in [now nine, plus several still undescribed].
 
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FrogEyes

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How they don't manage to fact-check even basic data, when reporting new species [which is dependant on knowing such things in the first place] is beyond me:

Crocodile newts are popular in the illegal pet trade and are often over-collected from the wild. There are now ten known species, eight of which have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List. Of these eight, three are threatened with extinction, four are listed as Near Threatened, and only one is Least Concern.

In the salamander family, newts have rougher skin than other salamanders as adults. Most of the world's salamanders are in the newt family, also known as efts.
Read more at The beautiful amphibian from Hell: scientists discover new crocodile newt in Vietnam (photos)
Click to expand...
"ten known species" is actually 16 named and perhaps nearly twice that known to exist. IUCN is not a great source of accurate and recent data. I'm sure Nishikawa et al are aware of this diversity, if the reporters are not.
"Most of the world's salamanders are in the newt family" is wrong. Salamandridae is a large family, but it's dwarfed by Plethodontidae.
"also known as efts." Not in modern terminology. In Old English, eft, evet, ewt, and newt were variants of the same word. In modern English, an eft is only a particular life stage of certain species of newts, such as some populations of Notophthalmus.
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  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
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    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
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