The Dayang newt (''Cynops orphicus'') is a rare species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

in the family

Salamandridae Salamandridae is a family of salamanders consisting of true salamanders and newts. Salamandrids are distinguished from other salamanders by the lack of rib or costal grooves along the sides of their bodies and by their rough skin. Their skin is v ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to China. It is known from

Jiexi County Jiexi County () is a county of eastern Guangdong province, China. It is under the administration of Jieyang City. Immigrants from Jiexi form a large overseas Chinese population who speak the Hepo dialect of Hakka (70%), mainly in Sarawak, Johor ...

in eastern

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

from where it was collected in 1936 (more specifically, from Dayang, which gave it the common name) and described as a new species in 1983. More recently, it has also been found from

Dehua County () is a county located in central Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Quanzhou City and covers an area of with a total population of 300,000. History Dehua is rich in kaolin and famous for ceramic pr ...

in central

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are pools and small lakes, and during hibernation, terrestrial habitats, including forest and lightly degraded areas. It is threatened by habitat loss and degradation.

References

Amphibians described in 1983 Cynops Endemic fauna of China Amphibians of China Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Salamandridae-stub