A new species of Rhacophorus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Xizang, China, with a revision of the distribution of R. bipunctatus

By

Weng, Shiyang
Liu, Xiaolong
Li, Jianchuan
Yu, Guohua
Huang, Junkai

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-2-24

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

437--447

Subjects

Biodiversity , cryptic species , Rhacophorus medogensis sp. nov. , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.142297

 

Abstract

A new species of Rhacophorus (Anura, Rhacophoridae), Rhacophorus medogensissp. nov., is described from Medog, Xizang Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. The new taxon can be distinguished from all phylogenetically closely related taxa (R. rhodopus and R. bipunctatus complexes) by the following combination of features: 1) body size medium (adult males SVL 31.6–38.7 mm, n = 17; adult females SVL 50.1–55.7 mm, n = 2); 2) pineal ocellus obvious; 3) toe webbing formula: I1‒1II1‒1.5III1‒1IV1‒1V; 4) irregularly shaped large black spots, white pattern in black spots on flanks; 5) snout pointed with appendage on tip; 6) tongue pyriform, with a deep notch at posterior tip; 7) tibiotarsal articulation reaching eye. In addition, we also discuss the distribution of R. bipunctatus, which is limited to northern India and central-western Myanmar, rather than the traditionally presumed range across South and Southeast Asia.