Tylototriton verrucosus, Anderson, 1871

Wang, Kai, Yuan, Zhiyong, Zhong, Guanghui, Li, Guangyu & Verrell, Paul A., 2017, Reproductive biology of Tylototriton yangi (Urodela: Salamandridae), with suggestions on its conservation, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 145) 11 (2), pp. 33-43 : 37-38

Review of courtship behaviors of Tylototriton verrucosus group

Significant differences in pre-spermatophore-deposition courtship behavior have been reported among different populations of Tylototriton verrucosus sensu lato from India ( Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001; Deuti and Hedge 2007), upper Myanmar ( Boulenger 1920), southwest China (unpubl. data), and from the pet-trade with unknown locality ( Sparreboom 2014). For the Indian populations, Roy and Mushahidunnabi (2001) reported that individual newts display extensive nose rubbing, tail fanning, and ventral amplexus (the male clasps the female’s forelimbs with his forelimbs, with his dorsal side facing her ventral side). Similar amplexus behavior was also observed for the upper Myanmar population ( Boulenger 1920). However, Sparreboom (1999, 2014) reported only tail fanning behavior in T. cf. verrucosus for pet-trade individuals from an unknown locality, and he did not observe extensive nose rubbing or ventral amplexus. For the topotypic individuals of T. verrucosus from southwestern Yunnan Province, China, Yuan observed nose-rubbing and tail-fanning behavior, but not ventral amplexus (unpubl. data).

Recently, several new species have been described from the T. verrucosus complex, including T. himalayanus from Nepal ( Khatiwada et al. 2015) and T. shanorum from northern Myanmar ( Nishikawa et al. 2014). Given the close geographic distance between the type localities of the two newly described species and the localities of previously identified T. cf. verrucosus populations with different courtship behaviors from India and Myanmar ( Boulenger 1920; Roy and Mushahidunnabi 2001), differences in courtship behavior among these two populations may represent differential behaviors of T. himalayanus and T. shanorum respectively, and ventral amplexus may be a characteristic behavioral pattern that differentiates T. himalayanus and T. shanorum from T. verrucosus sensu stricto.

In contrast, Hernandez (2016) reported ventral amplexus during courtship in T. verrucosus sensu stricto. However, the reference Hernandez cited describes courtship behavior of T. verrucosus populations from Thailand ( Humphrey and Bain 1990), which, based on Hernandez’s book, are now considered as T. uyenoi Nishikawa, Khonsue, Pomchote, Matsui 2013 , instead of T. verrucosus sensu stricto. Furthermore, the photographic evidence of ventral amplexus of T. verrucosus sensu stricto that Hernandez (2016) reported is of pet-trade individuals in France with no known locality information; and based on the external morphology of the individuals in the photo, these individuals should be identified as T. shanorum , as Hernandez suggested in his own book. Therefore, we recommend that further behavioral studies are needed to confirm the courtship behavior of T. verrucosus sensu stricto using topotypic individuals of the species.