Meet the new wild species of pure Chinese giant salamander raising hopes for the future of the ‘living fossil’
- Researchers discovered the group of genetically uncontaminated amphibians in a pristine corner of eastern China
- The find means that others of the critically endangered population could be out there
The new species, Andrias jiangxiensis, was found during an 18-month study in a largely undisturbed part of the Jiulingshan National Nature Reserve in Jiangxi province off limits to the public.
The animals are the only known genetically pure, reproducing giant salamander population in its natural habitat in the country, according to the scientists from the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“The discovery of the new species in a closed nature reserve provides hope that other genetically pure species may still exist in other such places,” said Robert Murphy, a professor at the University of Toronto and one of the co-authors of the study.
The study was published in the domestic peer-reviewed journal Zoological Research on May 18.
The Chinese giant salamander is one of the world’s biggest amphibians, growing up to 1.8 metres (6 feet) – and is believed to have remained almost unchanged since emerging in the Jurassic period about 170 million years ago.