Geographical variation in the golden‐striped salamander, Chioglossa lusitanica Bocage, 1864 and the description of a newly recognized subspecies

Abstract

Morphological and genetic data for the Iberian golden‐striped salamander, Chioglossa lusitanica, demonstrate the existence of two groups with southern and northern ranges, connected by a zone of intergradation in central Portugal. Because reproductive isolation between them is incomplete we consider the groups to be subspecies. The type locality of C. lusitanica (Buçaco near Lousã) is situated inside the mixed zone. This necessitates identification of the nominotypical subspecies. We sequenced a fragment of mitochondrial DNA from one of the species' syntypes and we determined what position over a latitudinal transect maximizes the morphological discrimination between the groups. Both approaches indicate that C. lusitanica from Buçaco represents the southern subspecies. A new subspecies of C. lusitanica is described from a northern locality (Valongo near Porto in north‐western Portugal). A lectotype is designated for Chioglossa lusitanica.