First record of facultative paedomorphism in the Kosswig's newt Lissotriton (vulgaris) kosswigi (Freytag, 1955) (Urodela; Salamandridae), endemic to northwestern Turkey

Abstract

Facultative paedomorphism is regularly observed in salamanders, including newts of the Lissotriton vulgaris group. Wedocument the first record of paedomorphism in L. (v.) kosswigi from a locality near Karasu, in the vicinity of Sakarya, Turkey. Wecompare measurements of 5 paedomorphic individuals with those of 10 metamorphic individuals from the same population and withmeasurements taken from the literature. Paedomorphs are on average bigger than metamorphs; intriguingly, the opposite pattern hasbeen observed in the Turkish L. (v.) schmidtlerorum.