Description of a new Megophrys Kuhl & Van Hasselt, 1822 (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

A new species of the genus Megophrys is described from Guizhou Province, China. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA indicated the new species as a clade clustered into the Megophrys clade. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size moderate (SVL 40.0–45.5 mm in males and 48.9–51.2 mm in females); vomerine teeth absent; tongue not notched behind; tympanum distinctly visible, oval; a small horn-like tubercle at the edge of each upper eyelid; two metacarpal tubercles in hand; toes with rudimentary webbing; heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level of mid-eye when leg stretched forward; in breeding males, an internal single subgular vocal sac present and brownish nuptial pads, made up of black nuptial spines, present on the dorsal base of the first two fingers.

Generic classification of Asian horned toads (Anura: Megophryidae: Megophryinae) and monograph of Chinese species

“…Diagnosis: Based on original description ( Li et al, 2020b ): (1) adult males, SVL 40.0–45.5 mm ( n =4); adult females, SVL 48.9–51.2 mm ( n =3); (2) snout obtusely pointed, canthus rostralis well developed; tongue not notched posteriorly; (3) tympanum distinct; (4) vomerine ridges present, vomerine teeth absent; (5) dorsal skin rough; weak discontinuous X-shaped ridge on center of dorsum, discontinuous dorsolateral ridges present; flanks with large warts; ventral skin smooth; (6) outer margin of upper eyelid with small horn-like prominent tubercle; supratympanic fold distinct and narrow, curving posteroventrally to above arm; (7) two metacarpal tubercles prominent and ovoid, inner one enlarged; relative finger lengths I<II<IV<III; distinct subarticular tubercle at base of each finger; (8) hindlimbs slender, heels overlapping when hindlimbs folded; tibiotarsal articulation reaching center of eye when leg stretched forward; (9) toes with rudimentary webbing at bases and narrow lateral fringes; inner metatarsal tubercle ovoid, outer one absent; (10) dorsal surface brown; brown triangular marking between eyes, X-shaped marking on center of dorsum; dorsal limbs with dark transverse bands; ventral surface brown with white patches on belly, two parallel dark brown bands ventrolaterally; (11) brownish nuptial pads bearing black nuptial spines on dorsal bases of fingers I and II in breeding adult males; subgular vocal sac present in males.…”

“…Distribution: Known only from its type locality in Anlong County at elevations of 1 400–1 600 m a.s.l. ( Li et al, 2020b ) (Supplementary Figure S5).…”

“…Remarks: In the original description of this species, the number of male paratypes was mentioned as “4 adult males” in the designation of type series, and the measurements in Table 1 presented data for five adult males ( Li et al, 2020b ). Male specimen CIB AL20190531020 appeared in Table 1 but was not listed in the designation.…”

A new species of the Asian leaf litter toad genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (Anura, Megophryidae) from northwest Guizhou Province, China

“…Moreover, the findings of the new species also indicated a high degree of localised diversification and micro-endemism for the species in the genus Leptobrachella because in Guizhou Province, China, the five recent-described Leptobrachella species are just known only from their type localities or nearby areas. In addition, in recent years, large number of discoveries have been made from Guizhou, dramatically raising the number of frog species known from the region ( Zhang et al 2017 ; Li et al 2018a , b , 2019a , b , 2020a , b , c ; Lyu et al 2019 ; Wang et al 2019 ; Luo et al 2020 ; Su et al 2020 ; Xu et al 2020 ; Wei et al 2020 ). This further indicated that more investigations should be conducted in Guizhou Province to define more precisely distribution area of the new species and detect more cryptic species especially in the poorly-investigated areas.…”

Acoustic difference in advertisement calls among two sympatric Boulenophrys species: A confirmatory case to acoustic niche hypothesis and morphological constraint hypothesis

“…Their body mass (BM) was measured using an electronic balance, and 17 morphological indices, such as snout-vent length (SVL), head length (HDL), head width (HDW), snout length (SL), internasal distance (IND), upper eyelid width (UEW), interorbital distance (IOD), eye diameter (ED), maximal tympanum diameter (TYD), tympanum-eye distance (TEY), length of lower arm and hand (LAL), hindlimb length (HLL), thigh length (THL), tibia length (TL), maximal tibia width (TW), length of foot and tarsus (TFL), and foot length (FL), were measured using a digital caliper. Measurement standards were based on studies by Li et al (2020) and Fei et al (2005).…”