New Species of Southern Crocodile Skink Discovered in Vietnam’s Central Highlands: Tylototriton ngoclinhensis

KOMPAS.com – A new species of southern crocodile skink (Southernmost crocodile) has been discovered in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

This species of crocodile lizard which is called endangered has been described in the journal ZooKeys, quoted from Phys, Wednesday (5/7/2023).

“This is an extraordinary find as it is one of the most colorful species in the genus Tylototriton. It is also the first time that a crocodile lizard species has been recorded from the Central Highlands of Vietnam,” said discoverer and first author of the study Trung My Phung.

My Phung explained that the Southernmost crocodile lizard is found at an altitude of 1,800 to 2,300 meters above sea level.

According to him, the discovery of the alligator lizard species set an altitude record for this genus in Vietnam, and previously estimated the distribution of this species to be between 250 AD and 1,740 AD.

Not only that, the discovery of the crocodile lizard by a research team from Vietnam and Germany represents the southernmost distribution range of the currently known genus.

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The habitat of this new species of crocodile lizard is about 370 km away from the nearest Tylototriton population. This then makes the species an important discovery in terms of evolution and zoogeography.

The species name of the Vietnamese alligator lizard

The new species of crocodile lizard is named Tylototriton ngoclinhensis. The name ‘ngoclinhensis” refers to the location where this lizard species is found, namely on Mount Ngoc Linh.

The crocodile lizard’s habitat is limited to evergreen montane forests, and currently the Ngoc Linh Crocodile Newt is known only from the Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve in Kon Tum Province, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

The Ngoc Linh alligator lizard is the eighth salamander taxon described in Vietnam, and the 39th officially recognized species of Tylototriton.

Scientifically, the cultural skink is known as the genus Tylototriton, which has nearly 40 species inhabiting mountainous forest areas throughout the Asian monsoon climate zone.

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Interestingly, 15 of these alligator lizard species have been described in the last five years, and there are still several taxa or types that have not been named, consisting of morphologically similar species that are difficult to distinguish.

The Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve is a major biodiversity area for rare and endangered species.

“(The Central Highlands is) where the highest recorded amphibian species diversity in Vietnam, with 130 species, also has the highest regional number of micro-endemic amphibians, namely 26 species,” said Prof. Dr. Truong Quang Nguyen, deputy director of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), Hanoi.

The Ngoc Linh Crocodile Lizard belongs to a group of species with limited ranges, which are referred to as micro-endemic species.

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This new species also faces the greatest risk of extinction due to its possibly small population size.

Another threat that puts the alligator lizard at risk of extinction is its unique body color, which is likely to be of great interest to illegal reptile collectors.

“Therefore, this finding has high conservation relevance,” said Prof. Dr. Tao Thien Nguyen of the Institute of Genome Research, Hanoi.

The researchers also revealed that for a while the new species of crocodile lizard should be considered for inclusion in the endangered species list on the IUCN Red List.

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2023-07-05 12:00:00
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