Paramesotriton aurantius

Description of the holotype. Adult male in excellent state of preservation. SVL 66.8 mm, TAL 56.3 mm, for further measurements see Tables 2 and 3. Body relatively slender; head longer than wide (length / width = 1.38); head wider than neck and body; snout truncate in dorsal and lateral view; nostrils short, close to snout tip, rounded in dorsal profile; eyes small, located at the upper corner of mouth, not bulging above dorsal surface of cranium, only visible in lateral view; glandular ridge on each side of the head, gradually enlarge from the posterior margin of snout to neck in dorsal view; one “ V ” parietal ridge present, indistinct; labial fold present; gular fold well developed; tongue short, ovoid, attach to mouth floor with free lateral margins (Fig. 6 A); vomerine tooth series as single distinct Ʌ-shaped with small groove at base, at middle of each choana (Fig. 6 B). Vertebral ridge brown, conspicuous, unintermittent, from occiput to tail. Forelimbs long, reach beyond tip of snout when adpressed forward; palm and sole overlap when adpressed forelimb backwards and hind limb forward along body flank; without metacarpal and metatarsal tubercle; four fingers and five toes without webbing (Fig. 7); slightly developed velum present in the third toe; relative finger length 1 <4 <2 <3; relative toe length 1 <5 <2 <4 <3. Tail long (SVL / TAL = 1.19); dorsal and ventral caudal fin evident, expanding on posterior half of tail; tail-tip rounded. Cloaca large slit, swollen, villous mastoid around cloaca, many pubes on gaps of cloaca. Skin rough, many warts and granular glands on dorsal skin and lateral sides of tail; ventral skin wrinkled, with small warts. In life, dorsal and lateral color of head, body, limbs, and tail dark brown. Ventral color of head, body and limbs beige, slightly lighter than dorsal and lateral surfaces. Single orange-red stripe from the posterior margin of cloaca to the first half part of tail on ventral side. Irregular yellow spots or orange blotches on most parts of the body, including cheek, flanks, lateral sides of tail, base of limbs, chin, venter, underside of the four limbs, and cloaca. Distinct white band extends laterally from the base of tail to the tail-tip. Finger and toe tips pale yellow. In preservation, the orange, orange-red colorations fade to yellow (Fig. 5). Morphological Variation. Morphometric measurements of the holotype and paratypes are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. In addition to morphometric variations among individuals, the following variations are also observed: (1) the dorsal color varies between the specimens collected from streams (brown with irregular yellow spots) and specimens collected on the land (black with irregular yellow spots) (Figs. 3, 4); (2) the number, shape and position of ventral orange-red spots varies among individuals; (3) cloacae are larger and more swollen in males than that in females (Fig. 8); (4) the length and width of tail are sexually dimorphic, with tails of males proportionally shorter and wider than females mostly (TAL / SVL 0.96 – 1.24 in males, 0.90 – 1.03 in females); (5) the bluish-white caudal stripes on the posterior half of tails are observed in several males collected from the streams (KIZ 026208, KIZ 026209, KIZ 026211) but not in males collected from the roadside drainages or from the land (Figs. 3 – 4).