Study offers clues for Chinese giant salamander conservation

Scientists have identified seven major genetically distinct groups of the critically endangered Chinese giant salamander - the world's largest amphibian - living in the wild in China, with three in Zhangjiajie, in Central China's Hunan province.

A research paper, published online in the journal Ecology and Evolution, depicts a relatively intact distribution map of Chinese giant salamander clades - groups of living organisms that include all the descendants sharing specific genetic traits of a common ancestor - and suggests that the release of giant salamanders back into the wild should match their genetic differences.

The scientists involved in the study collected 320 wild samples from 33 localities, covering most of the Chinese giant salamander's native distribution range. The seven clades were discovered through wide geographic sampling and sequence alignment of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA.