Anatolian crested newt which prohibit capture, disturbance, killing, trade, and destruction of habitats. Anatolian crested newt The Anatolian crested newt ("Triturus anatolicus") is a newt species endemic to northern Anatolia in Turkey. Before its description in 2016, it was first considered to belong to the southern crested newt ("Triturus karelinii") and then the Balkan crested newt ("Triturus ivanbureschi"). The three species form a complex of morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species. Genetic data demonstrated the Anatolian crested newt to be distinct from the other two species, although it hybridises with the Balkan crested newt at its western range end. With its two closely related species,
Anatolian diagonal and land bridges intermittently formed across the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. After the end of the most recent ice age, plants surviving to the west of the Anatolian diagonal could spread back into Europe while those to the east could spread into Syria, Iraq and the Near East. The Taurus Mountains provide a cool damp climate for species that cannot survive the hot dry summer climate on either side, and this could have encouraged survival and speciation, resulting in the many endemic species found here today. Anatolian diagonal The Anatolian diagonal is a theoretical dividing line which runs