The crested newt Triturus cristatus recolonized temperate E urasia from an extra‐ M editerranean glacial refugium

We assess the role of the C arpathians as an extra‐ M editerranean glacial refugium for the crested newt Triturus cristatus . We combine a multilocus phylogeography (one mitochondrial protein‐coding gene, three nuclear introns, and one major histocompatibility complex gene) with species distribution modelling (projected on current and L ast G lacial M aximum climate layers). All genetic markers consistently show extensive genetic variation within and genetic depletion outside the C arpathians. The species distribution model suggests that most of the current range was unsuitable at the L ast G lacial M aximum, but a small suitable area remained in the C arpathians. Triturus cristatus dramatically expanded its postglacial range, colonizing much of temperate E urasia from a glacial refugium in the C arpathians. Within the C arpathians, T. cristatus persisted in multiple geographically discrete regions, providing further support for a C arpathian ‘refugia within refugia’ scenario. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2015, 114 , 574–587.