Description of a new species of Gracixalus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Guangdong Province, southeastern China

Abstract

A new species of tree frog, G. guangdongensis sp nov., is described based on a series of specimens collected from Dawuling Forest Station, Mount Nankun and Nanling Nature Reserve of Guangdong Province, southeastern China. The new species is distinguished from all known congeners by a significant genetic divergence at the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene fragment examined (p-distance ≥ 4.6%) and the following combination of morphological characters: relatively small body size (SVL 26.1–34.7 mm in adult males, 34.9–35.4 mm in adult females); upper eyelid and dorsum lacking spines; supratympanic fold and tympanum distinct; dorsal and lateral surface rough, sparsely scattered with tubercles; ventral skin granular; tibiotarsal projection absent; toe-webbing moderately developed, finger webbing rudimentary; heels slightly overlapping when flexed hindlimbs are held at right angles to the body axis; brown to beige above, with an inverse Y-shaped dark brown marking extendeing from the interorbital region to the centre of the dorsum; males with a single subgular vocal sac and protruding nuptial pads with minute granules on the dorsal surface of the base of first finger. The discovery and description of Gracixalus guangdongensis sp. nov. represents the 14th species known in this genus.

Morphology and molecular genetics reveal two new Leptobrachella species in southern China (Anura, Megophryidae)

“…Except for the new species ( Leptobrachellayunkaiensis sp. n.) described in this study, several new species of amphibians and reptiles have been discovered from Dawuling Forest Station during field surveys in the last two years (Wang et al unpublished data; Wang et al 2018; Lyu et al 2018), which suggests a high herpetofaunal biodiversity of Dawuling Forest Station localized in western Guangdong Province, China. Recently, these areas have been subjected to tourism development; thus, conservation strategies and measures for references and enforcements are urgently needed.…”

A new species of Gracixalus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Yunnan, China

“…Morphometric data were taken using digital calipers to the nearest 0.1 mm. Morphological terminologies follow Matsui et al (2017) and Wang et al (2018). Measurements include:…”

“…Comparative morphological data of other Gracixalus species were taken from their original descriptions or re-descriptions (Boulenger 1893, Hu et al 1981, Ye and Hu 1984, Matsui and Orlov 2004, Orlov et al 2004, Nguyen et al 2008, Rowley et al 2011, Mo et al 2013, Nguyen et al 2013, Rowley et al 2014, Matsui et al 2015, Matsui et al 2017, Zeng et al 2017, Chen et al 2018, Wang et al 2018).…”

“…The genus Gracixalus Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean & Ohler, 2005 is known from southern and southwestern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar and contains 16 species including G.ananjevae (Matsui & Orlov, 2004), G.carinensis (Boulenger, 1893), G.gracilipes (Bourret, 1937), G.guangdongensis Wang, Zeng, Liu & Wang, 2018, G.jinggangensis Zeng, Zhao, Chen, Chen, Zhang & Wang, 2017, G.jinxiuensis (Hu, in Hu et al 1978), G.lumarius Rowley, Le, Dau, Hoang & Cao, 2014, G.medogensis (Ye & Hu, 1984), G.nonggangensis Mo, Zhang, Luo, Zhou & Chen, 2013, G.quangi , Rowley, Dau, Nguyen, Cao & Nguyen, 2011, G.quyeti (Nguyen, Hendrix, Bohme, Vu & Ziegler, 2008), G.sapaensis Matsui, Ohler, Eto & Nguyen, 2017, G.seesom Matsui, Khonsue, Panha & Eto, 2015, G.supercornutus (Orlov, Ho & Nguyen, 2004), G.tianlinensis Chen, Bei, Liao, Zhou & Mo, 2018, and G.waza Nguyen, Le, Pham, Nguyen, Bonkowski & Ziegler, 2013 (Frost 2018). Of the 16 members of Gracixalus , ten were discovered in last decade (Nguyen et al 2008, Rowley et al 2011, Mo et al 2013, Nguyen et al 2013, Rowley et al 2014, Matsui et al 2015, Matsui et al 2017, Zeng et al 2017, Chen et al 2018, Wang et al 2018), indicating that species diversity of Gracixalus was very poorly understood in the past. Moreover, recent phylogenetic analyses (Matsui et al 2017, Chen et al 2018) showed that there are still several unnamed distinct lineages in the group of G.jinxiuensis , indicating that species richness of Gracixalus remains underestimated.…”

Description of two cryptic species of the Amolops ricketti group (Anura, Ranidae) from southeastern China

“…Southwestern China has been considered as hotspot area with highest species diversity over time, while southeastern China, which suffers from more human activities, is considered as much less diverse, which may reflect the lack of biodiversity surveys over time. Recently, a number of new amphibian species were described from southeastern China (Lyu et al 2017; Wang et al 2017; Yuan et al 2017; Zeng et al 2017; Lyu et al 2018; Wang et al 2018a; Wang et al 2018b; this study), to be the greatest number of new amphibian species in China in recent times. These discoveries indicate that the species diversity in southeastern China is highly underestimated.…”