November 01, 2006 | 16:11 (GMT+7)
Rare amphibian found in northern midland province
Biologists have found black knobby newts, an especially rare amphibian in Viet Nam, in Xuan Son National Park in the northern midland province of Phu Tho.
Biologists have found black knobby newts, an especially rare amphibian in Viet Nam, in Xuan Son National Park in the northern midland province of Phu Tho.
Scientists have suggested the species, known under the scientific name of Tylototriton asperrimus Unterstein, be listed in the endangered category in an updated version of the Viet Nam Red Book, which is being compiled.
A specimen of the amphibian, collected by Fruhstorfer in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son in 1903, is now being kept at the London Museum.
Black knobby newts, or “ca coc san” in Vietnamese, are also found in Chinese provinces of Guangxi, Guangzhou, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, and Gansu and Hainan island. It was listed in Category V (Vunerable) in the IUCN Red Data Book and Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1998.
Source: VNA