Fahrbach, M., M. de Visser & B. Wielstra

The hybrid zone between the Italian and Northern Crested Newts (Triturus carnifex and T. cristatus) reaches Germany. pp. 428-434 plus Supplementary document.

Abstract. While it is generally assumed that only the Northern Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) occurs in Germany, there are early reports of Crested Newts with features typical of the Italian Crested Newt (T. carnifex) from the Berchtesgadener Land (Bavaria). We study a panel of eight nuclear DNA SNP markers for 26 individual Crested Newts to test if T. carnifex alleles occur in this region. All but two of the studied individuals contain alleles diagnostic for T. carnifex, with the largest percentage of T. carnifex alleles observed in a single individual being 37.5%. The sampled individuals show morphological characteristics typically associated with T. carnifex. We conclude that the natural hybrid zone between the Northern Crested Newt and the Italian Crested Newt reaches further west than previously realized and extends into the extreme southeast of Germany.

Key words. Amphibia, Caudata, Bavaria, Berchtesgadener Land, gene flow, hybridization, introgression, KASP genotyping.