Interesting Newt in China

[Neil C]

Hi All,

Came across the below field herping account of a trip in China. There is a stunning species of newt near the end of the photos that I thought you would enjoying seeing. The stream they are living in is crystal clear and full of rocks. Warning, if you are on dial up you will probably be waiting all night to see the pics.

Field Herp Forum • View topic - China post #47, Shennongjia in August


Regards Neil

 

[zhanggeer]

I'm interested in Australian wild animals!

 

[Otterwoman]

I'm going to save people an hour and post one of the pictures here: (there are more pics of it)

 

[Yahilles]

These are no newts. These are Liua (shihi or tsinpaensis) which belong to the Hynobiidae family. Very interesting a beautiful animals indeed!

 

[FrogEyes]

As best I can tell by distribution, those would now be Tsinpa tsinpaensis.

 

[Jefferson]

Good to see that some unpolluted water remains in China! If you look at the picture closely, you can see it supporting the Darwin's finches idea. This sally looks very, very reminiscent of muddies here in the US, with its pinkish-orange color and large, black splotches. Just like the Desmogs black-belly, seal, and Northern Dusky in the USA that share the swift stream habitat, this one has a keeled tail and hides beneath rocks. What a marvel of natural selection, I hope to go to China one day. Great find, and happy trails back down under (watch out for Death Adders).
Sincerely, Jefferson