Alpine newt populations have separated since the Early Miocene, around 20 million years ago, according to a molecular clock estimate by Recuero and colleagues.[1] Known fossil remains are much more recent: they were found in the Pliocene of Slovakia[13]:38 and the Pleistocene of Northern Italy.[17] An older, Miocene fossil from Germany, Ichthyosaura randeckensis, may be the sister species of the alpine newt.[18]