Abstract
A new species of the dicroglossine genus Limnonectes from eastern Thailand and its tadpole are described. Analysis of DNA sequence data from 2518 base-pairs of the mitochondrial 12S and 16S gene regions places the species within the complex of frogs currently referred to as Limnonectes kuhlii and demonstrates it to be a separate lineage (>18% sequence divergence from type-material of L. kuhlii from Java). The new species differs from L. kuhlii by having nuptial pads, a greater snout–vent length, and different relative finger lengths than specimens from Java. It has more extensive toe webbing, a different arrangement of nuptial pads, and a greater snout–vent length than Limnonectes laticeps. The new species, which lacks vocal slits, also can be distinguished from the morphologically similar Limnonectes namiyei from Japan, which possesses vocal slits.References
Alberch, P. & Gale, E. (1985) A Developmental Analysis of an Evolutionary Trend: Digital Reduction in Amphibians. Evolution, 39, 8–23.
Berry, P.Y. (1975) The Amphibian Fauna of Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumpur, 130 pp.
Boulenger, G.A. (1912) A vertebrate fauna of the Malay peninsula from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore: Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor and Francis, London, 294 pp.
Boulenger, G.A. (1920) A monograph of the South Asian, Papuan, Melanesian and Australian frogs of the genus Rana. Records of the Indian Musuem, 20, 1–223.
Chan-ard, T. (2003) A photographic guide to amphibians in Thailand. Darnsutha Press co., Bangkok, 176 pp.
Che, J., Pang, J., Zhao, H., Wu, G.-f., Zhao, E.-m. & Zhang, Y.-p. (2007) Molecular phylogeny of the Chinese Ranids inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 35, 29–39.
Dubois, A. (1987) Miscellanea taxinomica batrachologica (I). Alytes, 5, 7–95.
Dubois, A. (1992) Notes sur las classification des Ranidae (Amphibiens Anoures). Bull. mens Soc. linn. Lyon, 61, 305–352.
Duméril, A.M.C. & Bibron, G. (1841) Erpetétology Général ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Libraire Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, 792 pp.
Emerson, S.B. (1994) Testing pattern predictions of sexual selection: A frog example. The American Naturalist, 143, 848–869.
Emerson, S.B. & Berrigan, D. (1993) Systematics of Southeast Asian Ranids: Multiple origins of voicelessness in the subgenus Limnonectes (Fitzinger). Herpetologica, 49, 22–31.
Emerson, S.B., Inger, R.F. & Iskandar, D. (2000) Molecular Systematics and Biogeography of the Fanged Frogs of Southeast Asia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 16, 131–142.
Evans, B.J., Brown, R.M., McGuire, J.A., Supriatna, J., Andayani, N., Diesmos, A., Iskandar, D., Melnick, D.J. & Cannatella, D.C. (2003) Phylogenetics of Fanged Frogs: Testing Biogeographical Hypotheses at the Interface of the Asian and Australian Faunal Zones. Systematic Biology, 52, 794–819.
Frost, D.R. (2007) Amphibian Species of the World: an online reference. Available from http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php (accessed 17 April 2008)
Frost, D.R., Grant, T., Faivovich, J., Bain, R.H., Haas, A., Haddad, C.F.B., De Sá, R.O., Channing, A., Wilkinson, M., Donnellan, S.C., Raxworthy, C.J., Campbell, J.A., Blotto, B.L., Moler, P., Drewes, R.C., Nussbaum, R.A., Lynch, J.D., Green, D.M. & Wheeler, W.C. (2006) The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 297, 1–370.
Gosner, K.L. (1960) A simplified table for staging anuran embryos and larvae with notes on identification. Herpetologica, 16, 183–190.
Guayasamin, J.M., Bustamante, M.R., Almeida-Reinoso, D. & Funk, W.C. (2006) Glass frogs (Centrolenidae) of Yanayacu Biological Station, Ecuador, with the description of a new species and comments on centrolenid systematics. Zoological Journal of the Linnaen Society, 147, 489–513.
Hiroshi, T. & Matsui, M. (2002) Male-Male Combat and Head Morphology in a Fanged Frog (Rana kuhlii) from Taiwan. Journal of Herpetology, 36, 520–526.
Inger, R.F. (1966) The Systematics and Zoogeography of the Amphibia of Borneo. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 402 pp.
IUCN, Conservation-International & Nature-Serve (2006) Global Amphibian Assessment. Available from http://www.globalamphibians.org (accessed 17 April 2008).
Lehr, E., Trueb, L., Venegas, P.J., Arbelaéz, E. (2007) Descriptions of the Tadpoles of Two Neotropical Microhylid Frogs, Melanophryne carpish and Nelsonophryne aequatorialis (Anura: Microhylidae). Journal of Herpetology, 41, 581-–589.
Leviton, A.E. & Gibbs, R.H., Jr. (1988) Standards in Herpetology and Ichthyology Standard Symbolic Codes for Institution Resource Collections in Herpetology and Ichthyology Supplement No. 1: Additions and Corrections. Copeia, 1, 280–282.
Leviton, A.E., Gibbs, R.H., Jr., Heal, E. & Dawson, C.E. (1985) Standards in Herpetology and Ichthyology: Part I. Standard Symbolic Codes for Institutional Resource Collections in Herpetology and Ichthyology. Copeia, 3, 802–832.
Maeda, N. & Matsui, M. (1990) Frogs and toads of Japan, 2nd edition. Bun-ichi Sogo Shuppan Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 206 pp.
Manamendra-Arachchi, K. & Pethiyagoda, R. (2005) The Sri Lankan Shrub-fogs of the genus Philautus Gistel, 1848 (Ranidae: Rhacophoridae), with desctriptions of 27 new sepecies. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 12, 163–303.
Pope, C. (1931) Notes on Amphibians from Fukien, Hainan, and Other Parts of China. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 61, 397–611.
Taylor, W.R. & Van Dyke, G.C. (1985) Revised procedures for staining and clearing small fishes and other vertebrates for bone and cartilage study. Cybium, 9, 107–121.
Tschudi, J.J.V. (1838) Classification der Batrachier, mit Berücksichtigung der fossilen Thiere dieser Abtheilung der Reptilien. Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Neuchâtel, 2, 1–99.
Zhang, J.-F., Nie, L.-W., Peng, Q.-L., Ge, Y.-D., Wang, Y., Xu, J.-C. & Tang, X.-S. (2005) Relationships among the Chinese group of Limnonectes based on mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA sequences. Acta Zoologica Sinica, 51, 354–359.