First distribution record of the Asiatic Toad Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842 from India — Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

Bufo gargarizans, a species complex, has a wide distribution ranging from Japan to south-western China, Vietnam, and Russia but was not previously reported from India. Surveys conducted in Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh near the Indo-Tibetan border with China in 2014–15 revealed previously unreported specimens of the toad genus Bufo. Based on photographic comparisons with morphological characteristics obtained from published literature, we have identified the Bufo from Dibang Valley as the Asiatic Toad Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842. Individuals of the species reported from Dibang have a wide mid dorsal line in the dorsum, rarely observed in Bufo gargarizans except in the sub-populations on the Tibetan Plateau.