Molecular data confirm the presence of the Southern Crested Newt Triturus karelinii(Strauch, 1870) in Anatolia

Two species of newts of the genus Triturusare known to occur in Türkiye: Triturus ivanbureschiWielstra & Arntzen, 2013 and T. anatolicusWielstra & Arntzen, 2016. Here, we used the mitochondrial ND4 gene as a genetic marker to determine the taxonomic position of a new population found in Posof, Ardahan, northeastern Anatolia. It was shown the population belongs to T. karelinii(Strauch, 1870), which is thus the third species of Trituruspresent in Türkiye.