Yellow patterns polymorphism of the fire salamander Salamandra salamandra in Poland

Abstract

We analysed variation of dorsal yellow patterns in 2077 individuals that represented 23 populations from the northern parts of the Sudetes and the Carpathian Mountains. We distinguished four types of yellow patterns: spotted (50.1%), spotted-and-striped (42.8%), zig-zag (5.8%), and striped (1.3%). Spotted form dominated in the east (69.2%, the Carpathians) and its frequency decreased to the west (46.4%, the Sudetes), where spotted-and-striped forms became more common. The rarest in both mountain ranges (0.9% in the Carpathians, 1.3% in the Sudetes) was striped type. The exception was the westernmost population represented by 15.8% of the striped individuals. We did not find evidence of differences between yellow colouration variants and genotypes of 557 individuals defined by 10 microsatellite loci. No differences were found between females and males. We concluded that patterning does not constitute a unique feature at population and mountain ranges levels.