Acta Herpetologica 14(1): 27-33, 2019 DOI: 10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-24102 Scientific publication of georeferenced molecular data as an adequate guide to delimit the range of Korean Hynobius salamanders through citizen science Amaël Borzée1,*, Hae Jun Baek2,3, Chang Hoon Lee2,3, Dong Yoon Kim2, Jae-Young Song4, Jae-Hwa Suh5, Yik- weon Jang1, Mi-Sook Min2,* 1 Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, 03760, Seoul, Republic of Korea. *Corresponding authors. E-mail: amaelborzee@ gmail.com;
[email protected] 2 Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, Republic of Korea 3 National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, 33657, South Chungcheong Province, Republic of Korea 4 National Park Research Institute, Korea National Park Service, Wonju, 26441, Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea 5 National Institute of Biological Resources, 22689, Incheon, Republic of Korea Submitted on: 2018, October 26th; Revised on: 2019, February 20th; Accepted on: 2019, March 1st Editor: Daniele Pellitteri-Rosa Abstract. Despite the importance of clearly assessing the distribution boundaries of species, it is not possible for sci- entists to acquire genetic information and conduct molecular analysis for all populations. Consequently, citizen sci- ence is of increasing importance for large scale data collection. In this study, we described the range boundaries of the four Hynobius species occurring in Korea based on genetic identification and refined their distribution through citizen science data. The genetic identification of individuals was extracted from the literature, while the citizen science data were extracted from iNaturalist through GBIF. Distribution boundary lines were drawn from the genetic data and consistency with citizen science datapoints was assessed through a comparative analysis with the points found beyond the established boundary lines.