2001 Asiatic Herpetological Research Vol. 9. pp. 6-8 A New Species of Batrachuperus from Northwestern China Mingtao Song 2 , Xiaomao Zeng 1 , Guanfu Wu 1 , Zhijun Liu 'and Jinzhong Fu 3 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chengdu. China 610041. Northern west Institute of Endangered Animals. Xi'an. China 710032. ~ Department of Zoology. University of Guelph. Guelph. Ontario. Canada NIG 2W1 Abstract.-We describe a new species of salamander in the genus Batrachuperus from Tsinling Mts. in western China. The new species is morphologically most similar to B. longdongensis. but differentiated by the absence of horny covers on palms and tarsa. It represents the most northeastern distribution and the lowest elevation of the genus. Key words.-Caudata. Batrachuperus. new species. China. Tsinling Introduction The salamander genus Batrachuperus Boulenger. 1878 contains seven species (Frost. 1985). Three spe-cies occur on the western side of the Tibet Plateau (Iran and Afghanistan). The remaining four species are found on the eastern side of the Tibet Plateau in China. During the tieldwork in 1986 and 1999. we collected specimens of Batrachuperus from Zhouzhi. China. This collection marks the most northeastern distribution of the genus. The specimens are different from all other described species (Fei et al., 1990). and we describe them as a new species. Batrachuperus taibaiensis new spe-cies (Fig. 1). Taibai Stream Sala-mander Holotype: NIEA 860122. An adult male from the upper stream of Heihe River, near Hua Er Ping Vil-lage. Zhouzhi County. Shaanxi Province, China (33.85°N, 107.82°E). collected by M. Song on August 8. 1986. elevation 1260m. The holotype is deposited Figure 1 . Paratype of Batrachuperus taibaiensis (MVZ 230964).
BioStor
