Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference

Exaeretus caucasicus Waga, 1876, Rev. Mag. Zool., Paris, Ser. 3, 4: 327. Syntypes: MNHNP (1 specimen) and MZV (1 specimen), by original designation. Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 23, regarded MNHNP 6477 (formerly 1877.96) as the holotype. Type locality: "altissimis montibus Caucasi, supra limites silvarum, in regione graminum" (= Grass zone above the forests on the higher elevations of the Caucasus Mountains); rendered as Zekarskii Pass by Nikolskii, 1918, Fauna Rossii, Zemnovodnye: 192, and "Zekari Mountain Pass between river Kura and Rioni, Georgia" by Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 138.

Salamandra caucasica — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Grad. Batr. Apoda Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 5.

Salamandra caucasia — Knoblauch, 1905, Ber. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 1905: 89. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Mertensiella caucasica — Wolterstorff, 1925, Abh. Ber. Mus. Nat. Heimatkd. Magdeburg, 4: 244. Thorn, 1968, Salamand. Eur. Asie Afr. Nord: 178.

Salamandra (Mertensiella) caucasica — Özeti, 1967, Copeia, 1967: 287.

Mertensiella caucasica caucasica — Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 177-179.

Mertensiella caucasica djanaschvilii Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 177-179. Types: Not stated. Type locality: "in Georgian SSR in the vicinity of mount Tirala (Batumi region)", Georgia. Stated as "Mtirala Mountain, environs of Batumi Town, Adjaria, Georgia" by Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 48.

English Names

Caucasian Salamander (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 32; Tartarashvili and Bakradze, 1989, Bull. Acad. Sci. Georgia, Tbilisi, 133: 179; Stumpel-Rienks, 1992, Ergänzungsband Handbuch Rept. Amph. Eur., Trivialnamen der Herpetofauna Eur.: 50; Tarkhnishvili and Gokhelashvili, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 4: v).

Caucasus Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 35).

Distribution

Northeastern Turkey from east of Giresun to Borzhomi in the Caucasus Mountains of western Georgia, 400-2800 m elevation.

Comment

See account by Kuzmin, 1999, Amph. Former Soviet Union: 138-146, who doubted the validity of the currently recognized subspecies. Tarkhnishvili, Thorpe, and Arntzen, 2000, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 14: 414-422, noted that two populations that are likely distinct species are distinguishable, one in central Georgia and another in southwestern Georgia and northeastern Turkey. Basoglu and Özeti, 1973, Türkiye Amphibileri: 36-37, provided an account for the Turkish populations. Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 191-196, provided an account. Franzen, 1999, in Grossenbacher and Thiesmeier (eds.), Handbuch Rept. Amph. Eur., 4(1): 329-366, provided a review of the biology. Tuniyev, 1999, Adv. Amph. Res. Former Soviet Union, 3: 48-49, discussed the status and distribution of Mertensiella caucasica djanaschvilii. Özeti and Yilmaz, 1994, Türkiye Amfibileri: 51-54, provided an account for Turkish populations. Obst in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Günther, and Obst, 1993, Lurche Kriechtiere Eur.: 73-74, provided a brief account, figure, and map. Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 164-165, provided a brief account, figure, and map. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 603. Tarkhnishvili, Kaya, Gavashelishvili, and Serbinova, 2008, Herpetol. J., 18: 155-163, provided evidence that two allopatric species are covered by this one taxonomic name, that can be diagnosed by fixed mtDNA differences and habitat variables.

External Links

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.

• For additional sources of information from other sites search Google
• For images search Arkive, CalPhoto Images and Google Images
• To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
• For information aggregation from other sites and some original accounts see AmphibiaWeb report
• For further information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
• For related information on conservation and images as well as observation see iNaturalist;
• for a quick link to their maps see iNaturalist KML
• For access to informatoin on fossils see Lisanfos