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The habitat preferences of the endemic Vietnam Crocodile Newt,Tylototriton vietnamensiswere investigated on two scales: (1) at Yen Tu Nature Reserve, Bac Giang Province, Vietnam, while compiling information about pond occupancy and developing a qualitative comparison among breeding sites and (2) by developing a Species Distribution Model based on climate and land cover data identifying further suitable habitats in northern Vietnam. A factor analysis followed by a multiple linear regression showed 94% support for our occupancy ranking model. Our results suggest thatT. vietnamensispreferentially inhabits small pools with long hydroperiod and pH above 4.3. Suitable areas for the species have higher incidence in northern regions, where undisturbed vegetation and temperature-related variables seem to make greater contributions. Additionally, these potentially suitable areas are strongly fragmented and only a few are under IUCN protection, increasing their vulnerability towards further degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tylototriton anhuiensis (Salamandridae, Urodela), collected from Yaoluoping Nature Reserve, was identified as a new species. The complete mitogenome sequence of T. anhuiensis is 16,259 by in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and D-loop region. The base composition of the mitogenome was 33.6%A, 26.3% C, 14.5% G, and 25.6% T. The ND6 subunit gene and eight tRNA genes were encoded on the L-strand, the others were encoded on the H-strand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the complete 16,725 bp nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome was determined for theTylototriton kweichowensis(Caudata:Salamandridae). It contains 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes) and a non-coding region (D-loop). Overall base composition of the complete mitochondrial DNA is A (33.8%), G (14.4%), C (26.2%), and T (25.6%), so the percentage of A and T (59.4%) is higher than G and C (40.6%). All the genes inT. kweichowensisare distributed on the H-strand, except for theND6subunit gene and eight tRNA genes which are encoded on the L-strand. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The entire mitogenome ofTylototriton kweichowensisis 16 727 bp in length. It consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGS), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), and 1 control region (CR). Except for ND6 subunit and 8 tRNA genes are distributed on the L-strand, all the other PCGs and tRNA genes are located on the H-strand. “ATG” and “GTG” are the start codons of the PCGs, “TAA”, “AGA”, “TA–” and “T––” are the stop codons. Most of the tRNA genes can be folded into typical clover-leaf secondary structure. The genome ofT. kweichowensishas two repeat sequences in the cob-noncoding region. Mitogenomic phylogenetic analysis (NJ tree) robustly resolved the genus-level relationship among the three generaTylototriton, Echinotriton, andPleurodeles, and which is congruent with the previous molecular phylogeny results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitogenome ofTylototriton shanjingis 16,661 bp in length with GenBank accession number KR154461, which contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA), and 1 control region (CR). The overall base composition of this mitogenome is biased toward AT content at 59.45%. Most of the PCGs and tRNA genes are located on the H-strand, except for ND6 subunit gene and eight tRNA genes, which were distributed on the L-strand. The PCGs used “ATG” and “GTG” as the start codons, while “TAA”, “TAG”, “AGA”, and “T–” are used as stop codons. Almost all tRNA genes were folded into typical cloverleaf secondary structures. TheT. shanjinggenome had two tandem repeat sequences in the cob-noncoding region. The mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses shows that the generaEchinotriton and Tylototritonwere clustered into a strong supported monophyletic clade, which is a sister clade to the genusPleurodeles, this confirms the previous phylogenetic results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tylototriton taliangensiswas listed as a Near Threatened amphibian in IUCN red list. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of this species (GenBank: KP979646) and found it contains 16,265 base pairs, which encode 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNA), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNA) and 1 control region (CR). We also found that almost all PCGs and tRNA genes are located on the H-strand, except for ND6 subunit gene and eight tRNA genes, which were distributed on the L-strand. The PCGs used “ATG” and “GTG” as the start codon, while used four types of stop codons. Almost all tRNA genes were folded into typical cloverleaf secondary structures. The L-strand replication origin (OL) and a non-coding region were also found. The new mitogenomic phylogenetic tree confirms the reciprocally monophyly of the genusTylototriton, EchinotritonandPleurodeleswith high bootstrap value. The present study will provide information for future studies on the conservation genetics and phylogeny of this species and its relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]