A New Species of Gracixalus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from West Guangxi, China

We discovered a new species of the genus Gracixalus, Gracixalus tianlinensis sp. nov. which is morphologically almost similar to G. jinggangensis, G. jinxiuensis and G. sapaensis, but is distinguished from these species and all other rhacophorids in China and adjoining countries by a combination of the following characters: (1) SVL 30.3-35.9 mm in male, 35.6-38.7 mm in female, (2) head length less than head width, (3) vomerine teeth absent, (4) supratympanic fold distinct, (5) axilla and posterior surface of flanks pale yellow, (6) nuptial pads distinct on Finger I and slightly visible on Finger II, (7) dorsum brown to beige, with an inverse Y-shaped dark brown marking, (8) single subgular vocal sac. Our preliminary phylogenetic analyses implied G. tianlinensis sp. nov. is sister to G. sapaensis with well-supported values. Currently, this new species is known to be distributed in montane evergreen forests in association with montane bamboo in Cenwanglaoshan National Nature Reserve, Tianlin County, Guangxi, China

A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from southern Guangxi, China

Chen, Weicai, Liao, Xiaowen, Zhou, Shichu, Mo, Yunming (2019): A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from southern Guangxi, China. Zootaxa 4563 (1): 67-82, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4563.1.

FIGURE 4 in A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from southern Guangxi, China

FIGURE 4. The advertisement call of holotype of Leptobrachella shangsiensis sp. nov. Expanded about 2 s waveform with Oscillogram (top) and corresponding audiospectrogram (bottom). The ambient air temperature was 21.5°C

A new species of the genus Gracixalus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Southern Guangxi, China

Mo, Yunming, Zhang, Wei, Luo, Yu, Zhou, Shichu, Chen, Weicai (2013): A new species of the genus Gracixalus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Southern Guangxi, China. Zootaxa 3616 (1): 61-72, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3616.1.

Rhacophorus yaoshanensis Liu & Hu 1962

<i>Rhacophorus yaoshanensis</i> Liu & Hu, 1962 <p> <b>Type locality.</b> Dayaoshan Ranges, Jinxiu County, Guangxi, China.</p> <p> <b>Specimens examined (n=14)</b>. All specimens were collected in the Dayaoshan Ranges, Guangxi, China. NHMG1402013, adult female, on a tree approximately 1.5 m above the ground in the evergreen forest (first location: 24.165953° N, 110.242814° E, 1218 m asl), collected by Yunming Mo, Zhuqiu Song and Shichu Zhou, at 21:15 h on 26 February, 2014. NHMG14003024, adult male, on leaves of herbaceous plants approximately 0.5 m above the ground in evergreen forest (second location: 24.148056° N, 110.211111° E, 1460 m asl), collected by Weicai Chen, Yunming Mo and Shichu Zhou, at 21:43 h on 17 March, 2014. NHMG1503011, adult male, on a bamboo approximately 0.8 m above the ground in evergreen forest (third location: 24.090763° N, 110.202444° E, 1417 m asl), collected by Weicai Chen, Yunming Mo and Shichu Zhou, at 22:12 h on 22 March, 2015. NHMG 150401, adult female, and NHMG 150402 -12, 10 adult males, on leaves of herbaceous plants ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 m above the ground in evergreen forest (fourth location: 24.107553° N, 110.185458° E, 1372 m asl), collected by Weicai Chen, Yunming Mo and Shichu Zhou, from 21:30 h to 23:45 h, on 14 April, 2015 (Fig. 1).</p> <p> <b>Description</b>. Body dorsoventrally compressed; head length less than head width (HL/HW=0.83); snout pointed in dorsal view and profile, projecting slightly beyond margin of the lower jaw; canthus rostral distinct, loreal region sloping; nostrils oval, oblique, slightly protuberant, and much closer to the tip of snout than eye; eye distance less than snout length (ED/SNT=0.77); interorbital region slightly concave; interorbital distance almost equal to eye diameter (IOD/ED=0.98); internarial space almost equal to eye diameter (IN/EYE=1.03); tympanum distinct, rounded, 50% eye diameter (TD/EYE=0.50), slightly concave relative to the skin of temporal region; pupil horizontal; vomerine teeth in two oblique groups (less than 20° to horizontal line), closer to choanae than each other; tongue elongated, deeply notched posteriorly; pineal ocellus absent; oval vocal sac opening at base of the jaw; external single subgular vocal sac; supratympanic fold distinct, extending to beyond level of axilla. (Table 2; Fig. 1).</p> <p>Forelimbs moderately robust, relative length of fingers I<II<IV<III; tips of all but the first fingers distinctly expanded with circummarginal grooves; the third finger disk width almost equal to tympanum diameter (FTD3/ TD=0.93); webbing formula I 1 -– 1- II 1–1- III 1 +– 2- IV; subarticular tubercles prominent, rounded, formula 1, 1, 2, 2; palmar tubercle indistinct; nuptial pads present (Fig. 2).</p> <p>Tips of toes expanded with distinct circummarginal grooves; disks smaller than those of fingers; relative length of toes I<II<III<V<IV; webbing formula I 1 +–1- II 1 +–1+ III 2 +–2 IV 2 +–2+ V; subarticular tubercles distinct, rounded, formula 1, 1, 2, 3, 2; inner metatarsal tubercle oval; outer metatarsal tubercle absent (Fig. 2).</p> <p>Dorsal surface smooth; ventral surface of belly and thighs coarsely granular; throat and chest smooth; loose skin on the throat; tarsal fold present; outer margin of the forearm, foot and supracloacal region with low dermal ridges.</p> <p> <b> Coloration of <i>R. yaoshanensis</i> in life.</b> The dorsal surface is green, with or without faint green spots; venter is cream without spots; the anterior and posterior surface of thighs, the ventral surface of shanks and the posterior surface of flanks are orange-red without spots; cloacal region is pale grey; throat is grey in males; and the iris is pale yellowish gold with a network of fine dark gold reticulations (Fig. 1).</p> <p> <b>Ecology.</b> <i>R. yaoshanensis</i> specimens were collected from four locations in the Dayaoshan Ranges. Except for the first location, all are close to permanent pools, ranging in area from 5 to 50 m 2. At the fourth location, we found about 40 individuals scattered on leaves of herbaceous plants (Fig. 3). Interestingly, we did not observe vocalizing males or amplexus. One adult female (NHMG 150401) was found, but contained no eggs. However, a female (NHMG1402013) containing creamy yellow eggs was collected at the first location in February. The advertisement call and tadpole of <i>R. yaoshanensis</i> are unknown.</p> <p> <b>Distribution</b>. Currently, this species is known only from the Dayaohan Ranges, and inhabits evergreen forest above 1100 m elevation.</p> <p> <b>Molecular analyses.</b> Two individuals (NHMG 150404, 150408) were sequenced successfully. Based on our preliminarily phylogenetic analyses, <i>R. yaoshanensis</i> is the sister-species of <i>R. pinglongensis</i> with well-supported values (BBP=1.0) (Fig. 4). The genetic distance between <i>R. yaoshanensis</i> and <i>R. pinglongensis</i> is at the 16S gene fragment examined was 2.0 %.</p>Published as part of <i>Chen, Weicai, Liao, Xiaowen, Zhou, Shichu, Mo, Yunming & Huang, Yong, 2018, Rediscovery of Rhacophorus yaoshanensis and Theloderma kwangsiensis at their type localities after five decades, pp. 484-496 in Zootaxa 4379 (4)</i> on pages 487-492, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4379.4.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/1174988">http://zenodo.org/record/1174988</a&gt

Rediscovery of Rhacophorus yaoshanensis and Theloderma kwangsiensis at their type localities after five decades

Chen, Weicai, Liao, Xiaowen, Zhou, Shichu, Mo, Yunming, Huang, Yong (2018): Rediscovery of Rhacophorus yaoshanensis and Theloderma kwangsiensis at their type localities after five decades. Zootaxa 4379 (4): 484-496, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4379.4.

Insight into the validity of Leptobrachium guangxiense (Anura: Megophryidae): evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequences and morphological characters

Chen, Weicai, Zhang, Wei, Zhou, Shichu, Li, Ning, Huang, Yong, Mo, Yunming (2013): Insight into the validity of Leptobrachium guangxiense (Anura: Megophryidae): evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequences and morphological characters. Zootaxa 3641 (1): 31-40, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3641.1.

Kaloula nonggangensis Mo, Zhang, Zhou, Chen, Tang, Meng & Chen, 2013, sp. nov.

Kaloula nonggangensis sp. nov. Holotype. NHMG 1106036, adult male, from the Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Southern Guangxi Province, China (22.4522 ° N, 106.9354 ° E; altitude: 186 m a.s.l.), collected on June 28, 2011 by Weicai Chen, Yunming Mo (Figure 2 A, B, C). Paratypes. NHMG 1106030 – 35, NHMG 1106037 – 41, adult males collected at the same place of the locality by Weicai Chen and Yunming Mo on June 29, 2011. NHMG 1108035, adult female, NHMG 1108036 – 41 adult males, collected at the near locality of the holotype (22.4809 ° N, 106.9017 ° E; altitude: 167 m a.s.l.) by Yunming Mo, Wei Liao and Zhuqiu Song on August 11, 2011. Diagnosis. Assigned to the genus Kaloula on the basis of the following: medium size (41.4–52.7 mm in 18 adult male, 52.2 mm in one adult female), smooth or slightly rough olive dorsum with irregular dark-green marks and brown spots (Figure 2 A, B); tips of the fingers dilate and truncated (Figure 3 A); nearly full webbing on toes in males and reduced webbing in females (Figure 3 B); two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male (Figure 3 C); chest beige with small lemon-colored spots in male (Figure 2 C); ventral epidermal adhesive gland occupies chest and venter; larvae lacking a keratinized jaw sheath and labial teeth. K. nonggangensis sp. nov. is distinguished from it congeners by a combination of (1) medium size (SVL ranging 41.4–52.7 mm in males), (2) smooth or slightly rough olive dorsum with irregular dark-green marks and brown spots, (3) tips of the fingers dilate and truncated, (4) chest beige with small lemon-colored spots in male, and (5) male with two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers. Description of holotype. Adult male; SVL 47.5 mm; habitus rotund, body rounded; head proportionally small, length 25 % of SVL, 76 % of head width; snout slightly pointed beyond lower jaw, its tip round in dorsal aspect and in lateral aspect; eyes protruding laterally beyond silhouette of head in dorsal aspect, protruding very markedly beyond dorsal surface of head in lateral aspect; pupil circular; interorbital region flat with some small tubercles; snout less than half of the head length; upper eyelid width slightly smaller than interorbital distance, and much smaller than snout length; eye diameter (4.63 mm) almost equal to snout length (4.64 mm), longer than interorbital distance (3.8 mm) and eye-narial distance (2.1 mm); canthus rostralis indistinct; loreal region sloping, moderately concave; nostrils barely protuberant, very close to tip of snout (eye-nostril distance longer than distance from nostril to tip of snout); internarial region slightly concave; tympanum hidden and indistinct; tympanic fold prominent, extending from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary region; tongue oval without posterior notch; choanae elongate oval and small, situated at anterolateral edge of palate, separated by a distance about two times of their diameter; dentigerous process of vomer in posterior edge of choanae evident, almost touching in the middle line but vomerine teeth apparently absent; vocal slits large, just posterior to rictus. Forelimbs. Arms short, forearms not hypertrophied; hand relatively large (HAL 14.3 mm); forearm and hand length (LAHL 23.3 mm) almost as long as half of SVL (47.5 mm); fingers disks obviously dilated and tips truncated; relative length of fingers I 1.8 % (Table 2). Preliminary hypothesis of phylogenetic relationship. Among 15 Kaloula species (Frost 2013), only 9 species' sequences (including K. baleata, K. borealis, K. conjuncta, K. mediolineata, K. picta, K. pulchra, K. rugifera, K. taprobanica, K. verrucosa) are available from GenBank. Based upon our preliminary molecular data, the genus Kaloula formed a monophyletic group with well-supported values (BP= 98; BBP=1.00), and was divided three clades (Figure 4). Clade A consists of Kaloula taprobanica Parker, 1934; Clade B consists of K. borealis, K. rugifera, K. verrucoca, and K. nonggangensis sp. nov. and Clade C consists of K. baleata van & Muller, 1836, K. conjuncta Peters, 1863, K. mediolineata Smith, 1917, K. picta Duméril & Bibron, 1841, and K. pulchra Gray, 1831. Comparisons: K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from all other species of Kaloula by having smooth or slightly rough dorsum without rough tubercles, finger tips widely expanded and truncated, two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male, throat and chest with some small lemon spots in male, and larvae with some yolk-yellow spots in body and tail. K. nonggangensis sp. nov. is most similar in appearance to K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa (Figure 2). However, K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. borealis by having widely expanded terminal digital disks (vs. lacking expanded terminal digital disks in the latter); by two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male (without osseous tubercles in the latter, Figure 3 D); by having nearly full webbing (vs. 1 / 2 webbing in the latter); by throat and chest beige with some small lemon spots (vs. distinct black spots in the throat area in the latter) (Fei et al. 2009). Furthermore, in life, the tadpole of K. borealis has dark brown dorsal body and tail, without pigment and venter white or hoar (vs. the tadpole of K. nonggangensis sp. nov. has brownish head and body with some faint yellow pigments and dorsal fin near the tail body-junction has a yolk-yellow line) (Fei et al. 2009; Zhou et al. 2011). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. rugifera by having a relatively bigger body size (SVL 41.4–52.7 mm in male vs. 35.5 –43.0 mm in male for K. rugifera) (Table 3). It can be further distinguished from K. rugifera by finger tips widely expanded and truncated (slightly expanded in K. rugifera, Figure 3 F); by two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male (having two clusters of osseous tubercles instead of two side protuberant osseous tubercles in the latter) (Figure 3 F); by throat and chest with some small lemon spots in male (vs. cream without pigments); by larvae with some yolk-yellow spots in body and tail (vs. dorsum and tail dark brown, no pigment) (Fei et al. 2009; Zhou et al. 2011). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. also differs from K. verrucosa by smooth or slightly rough dorsum without rough tubercles (rough dorsal skin and tubercles present in K. verrucosa) (Figure 2 F); by finger tips widely expanded and truncated (non-expansion of terminal digital disks in the latter, Figure 3 E); by two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male (4–6 free osseous tubercles in the latter) (Figure 3 E); by larvae with some yolk-yellow spots in body and tail (vs. dorsum and tail dark brown with black pigment in the latter) (Fei et al. 2009). The morphological differences in the shape of terminal disks (Figure 3) have been assessed in large numbers of specimens in the studies of 83 for K. borealis, 100 for K. verrucosa and 67 for K. rugifera, partly in specimens from different localities (Kunming and Dali in K. verrucosa) (Appendix I, Fei et al. 2009). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. aureata Nutphand, 1989, by having an olive dorsum without lateral bands (vs. bright yellow in median dorsum, and yellowish orange lateral bands along the back) (Pauwels & Chérot, 2006). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. baleata by having a ventral adhesive gland in males (vs. venter without epidermal adhesive gland); by having olive dorsum without rough tubercles (vs. brownish dorsum with rough tubercles, and a bright yellow spots near axilla in the latter) (Pauwels et al. 1999). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. conjuncta, K. kalingensis, K. kokacii and K. walteri by a larger body size (SVL 41.4–52.7 mm in males vs. 26.6–30.1 mm in K. conjuncta, 24.2–32.9 mm in K. kalingensis, 37.0– 39.1 mm in K. kokacii, 24.5–31.5 mm in K. walteri (Diesmos et al. 2002). It also differs from K. conjuncta by the absence of rough dorsal tubercles (vs. tubercles distributed over the entire dorsum); by having olive dorsum (vs. brownish dorsum) (Diesmos et al. 2002). It also differs from K. kalingensis and, K. kokacii by its ventral adhesive gland in males (vs. venter without epidermal adhesive gland) (Brown et al. 2000; Diesmos et al. 2002). It also differs from K. walteri by the presence of a round, small, and pointed outer metatarsal tubercle (vs. absence, or presence of only a faint, very reduced outer metatarsal tubercle); by the presence of three subarticular tubercles on the fourth toe (vs. two); by having widely expanded terminal digital disks (vs. lacking expanded terminal digital disks in the latter) (Diesmos et al. 2002). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. clearly differs from K. assamensis, K. mediolineata, K. pulchra and K. taprobanica by absence (vs. presence) of dorsolateral bands. It also differs from K. assamensis by its inner metatarsal tubercle smaller (vs. larger) than first toe; lacking a vertebral stripe (vs. presence of a dark edged lemon vertebral stripe) (Das et al. 2004; Nath et al. 2011). It also differs from K. mediolineata by its finger tips widely expanded (vs. non expanded) and truncated (Diesmos et al. 2002). It also differs from K. pulchra by its smaller body size (SVL 41.4– 52.7 mm vs. 55.0–77.0 mm in K. pulchra (Fei et al. 2009); snout length about 1 / 3 head length (vs. half of the head length; by smooth venter (vs. granular venter) (Fei et al. 2009). It can be further distinguished from K. taprobanica by lacking (vs. having) large irregular shaped markings of yellow-red color in dorsum median area (Dutta & Manamendra-Arachchi 1996). K. nonggangensis sp. nov. differs from K. picta and K. rigida by absence (vs. presence) of supernumerary tubercles at the base of each digit of the manus. It also differs from K. picta by its inner metatarsal tubercle shorter (vs. equal to or longer) than first toe (Diesmos et al. 2002). Finally, K. macrocephala (originally treated as a synonym of K. pulchra) differs from K. nonggangensis sp. nov. by having indistinct dorsolateral bands and mid-dorsum covered by large-sized irregular patches (vs. clearly absent dorsolateral bands in new species) (Bourret 1942; Ohler 2003; Pauwels & Chérot 2006). In addition, genetically, except for K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa, the uncorrected sequence divergences between K. nonggangensis sp. nov. 16 S rRNA sequences and all homologous sequences available on GenBank (Table 2) were greater than 3 %, a value usually representing differentiation at the species level in frogs (Vences et al. 2005; Fouquet et al. 2007). Discussion Fei et al. (2009) divided Chinese Kaloula species into two groups: the K. pulchra group (consisting of K. pulchra) and the K. verrucosa group (consisting of K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa), being consistent with our phylogenetic trees. K. nonggangensis sp. nov. embedded within the K. verrucosa group. K. nonggangensis sp. nov., K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa formed a monophyletic group with high supported values (Figure 4). Preliminary molecular data indicated that K. nonggangensis sp. nov. and K. borealis were sister species. However, due to weak inter-nodes support values (<60 %), their phylogenetic positions must be considered as unresolved. We found that the genetic distances among lineages in the K. verrucosa group are lower than the values usually representing differentiation at the species level in frogs (Vences et al. 2005; Fouquet et al. 2007) (Table 2). According to the results of these authors, in most cases species are differentiated by uncorrected p -distances in 16 S rRNA of 3 % or higher. If the criterion was strictly applied in this group, then K. nonggangensis sp. nov., K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa could also be considered as conspecific populations. However, the morphological differences separating these four taxa, including those in larval morphology, are quite distinct (Figure 2, 3 and Table 3), and extend to characters that do not usually show intraspecific variability in anurans. For instance, K. borealis differs by lacking osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers in male, and the finger not being dilated. The digital tips of K. verrucosa are not dilated either. Tadpoles of K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa have relatively dark colored in tail muscles and tail fins (vs. having some yolk-yellow spots in K. nonggangensis sp. nov. tadpole) (Fei et al. 2009). Besides, although the diploid number among K. borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa was of 2 n= 28 chromosomes, their karyotypes are different. The K. borealis karyotypes consisted of eleven metacentric (1, 2, 4 –11, 13) and three submetacentric (3, 12, 14) pairs. The K. rugifera karyotypes consisted of eleven metacentric (1, 2, 4–12), one submetacentric (pair 3), one subtelocentric (pair 13) and one telocentric (pair 14) pairs. The K. verrucosa karyotypes consisted of eleven metacentric (1, 2, 4 –7, 9–11, 13, 14) and three submetacentric (3, 8, 12) pairs (Wu & Yang 1981; Zeng & Wu 1990; Zhang et al. 2006). Despite the low genetic distances among group, considering their distinct morphology and karyotype, we suggest that they are separated species. In fact, in Asian microhylid genera, a low genetic differentiation among some species has also been reported by Matsui et al. (2011). For instance, the uncorrected p -distance of Micryletta inornata (GenBank no.: AB 611968) and Micryletta steinegeri (GenBank no.: AB 634696) in 16 S rRNA sequence (~ 540 bp) is 2.8 %. Some 16 S rRNA sequences of Asian microhylid (data mainly coming from the paper of Matsui et al. (2011) (Appendix II) together our data indicate that the branches in Kaloula are relatively short (figure no showed). This may either indicate that Kaloula are very young and evolved in a recent rapid radiation, or that mitochondrial substitution rates have become decelerated in this genus. To conclude, a re-evaluation of the species boundaries and the phylogenetic relationships within the genus, using larger samples and bioacoustics is warranted.Published as part of Mo, Yunming, Zhang, Wei, Zhou, Shichu, Chen, Tianbo, Tang, Huaxing, Meng, Yuanjun & Chen, Weicai, 2013, A new species of Kaloula (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from southern Guangxi, China, pp. 165-178 in Zootaxa 3710 (2) on pages 168-175, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3710.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/21654

A new species of Kaloula (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from southern Guangxi, China

Mo, Yunming, Zhang, Wei, Zhou, Shichu, Chen, Tianbo, Tang, Huaxing, Meng, Yuanjun, Chen, Weicai (2013): A new species of Kaloula (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from southern Guangxi, China. Zootaxa 3710 (2): 165-178, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3710.2.

Skull of <i>Liuixalus shiwandashan</i> sp. nov.

<p>Left, dorsal view; right, ventral view.</p