It was supposed that the current records of Amolops ricketti might be a species complex composed of multiple species. In this study, on the basis of wide sampling, we found that the records of A. ricketti from Yunnan, China, and northern Vietnam actually represent a cryptic species based on morphological and molecular evidence. Amolops shihaitaoisp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of the A. ricketti species group by its moderate body size (SVL 35.5‒37.3 mm in males and 39.2‒45.7 mm in females); white spines on the temporal region, loreal region, snout, and lips in breeding males but absent in females; overlapping heels; tibiotarsal articulation reaching tip of snout; indistinct longitudinal glandular folds on the skin of the shoulders; presence of supernumerary tubercles below the base of fingers II‒IV, distinct pineal body; presence of vomerine teeth; and absence of vocal sacs. Phylogenetic analysis supports that the new species is sister to Amolops yatseni and the populations from Jingxi, Guangxi and Lào Cai, Vietnam previously reported as A. yatesni also belong to it. Additionally, our results indicate that more cryptic species may exist within the A. ricketti species group, implying that more studies are needed to achieve a complete understanding of the species diversity of this group.
We describe a new species of Theloderma from southern Yunnan, China and northern Vietnam based on morphological and molecular evidence. Theloderma hekouensesp. nov., which had been recorded as T. rhododiscus, is the sister to T. rhododiscus. The new species differs genetically from T. rhododiscus by 4.2% and 10.7% in 16S rRNA and COI genes, respectively, and it can be morphologically distinguished from T. rhododiscus by having more densely spaced white warts on the dorsal surface, red subarticular tubercles, red metacarpal tubercles, a red metatarsal tubercle, and black dorsal and ventral surfaces in preservative. Currently the new species is only known from the China–Vietnam border regions of Yunnan and Ha Giang, while T. rhododiscus has a wide distributional range in China including Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi, and presumably Guizhou and eastern Yunnan. Including the new species, there are currently 10 Theloderma species in China and seven Theloderma species in Yunnan, where more species will probably be found.
In this study, based on morphological and molecular data, a new bush frog species is described from Yunnan, China. Eleven samples of Raorchestes malipoensissp. nov. were collected from Malipo County, southeastern Yunnan. This species can be distinguished from other congeners by a combination of 13 morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene indicate that these individuals form a monophyletic group, and genetic divergence between this clade and its closest relatives is higher than 3.1%, which is comparable to the divergence between recognized Raorchestes species. The discovery of this new species suggests that additional extensive surveys in the southeastern Yunnan would yield more amphibian lineages yet unknown to science.
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