Balkan crested newt

"Triturus arntzeni" redirects here. This is a synonym both for this species and for the Macedonian crested newt.

The Balkan crested newt or Buresch's crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi) is a newt species of the crested newt species complex in genus Triturus, found in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia.^[3]

Balkan crested newt
Museum specimen
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Urodela
Family:	Salamandridae
Genus:	Triturus
Species:	T. ivanbureschi
Binomial name
Triturus ivanbureschi Arntzen & Wielstra, 2013
Synonyms[2]
Triton cristatus karelinii forma bureschi Wolterstorff, 1925 Triton cristatus karelini forma byzanthina Wolterstorff, 1923 Triturus karelinii arntzeni Litvinchuk, Borkin, Džukić and Kalezić 1999 Triturus (Triturus) karelinii arntzeni Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2009 Triturus arntzeni Espregueira Themudo, Wielstra, and Arntzen, 2009

It was originally described as a subspecies of the southern crested newt, "Triturus karelinii arntzeni", in 1999,^[4] and later considered a full species when genetic data showed it to be distinct.^[5] After it was suggested the type specimen of "T. arntzeni" belonged in fact to the Macedonian crested newt (T. macedonicus), the species was redescribed, with a new type specimen, as T. ivanbureschi in 2013. The species epithet was chosen in honour of Bulgarian herpetologist Ivan Buresh.^[3]

Its distribution ranges from the Southeastern Balkan peninsula (Western North Macedonia, Northwestern Greece, Bulgaria, Eastern Thrace) to Western Anatolia. An isolated population, surrounded by other crested newt species, occurs in Serbia.^[3] Genetic data showed that Northern Anatolian populations east of the Bosphorus and Bursa form a separate, but morphologically indistinguishable sibling species, which was described as Anatolian crested newt (T. anatolicus) in 2016.^[6]

The Balkan crested newt hybridises with the Anatolian crested newt at its eastern range end.^[6] At the western and northern borders, it hybridises with the Macedonian crested newt, the Danube crested newt (T. dobrogicus), and the northern crested newt (T. cristatus).^[7] The type specimen of "T. arntzeni" is in fact a hybrid between the Balkan and the Macedonian crested newt, so that this name is a synonym for both species.^[8]