Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2017-09-15
Page range: 272–288
Abstract views: 132
PDF downloaded: 5

A new species of frog of the genus Abavorana Oliver, Prendini, Kraus & Raxworthy 2015 (Anura: Ranidae) from Gunung Jerai, Kedah, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia

School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
Department of Biology, La Sierra University, Riverside, California, USA.
Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, 150 East Bulldog Boulevard, Provo, Utah 84602 USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
Amphibia Herpetofauna montane new species taxonomy conservation systematics

Abstract

The recently erected ranid genus Abavorana is thought to contain one nominal species, A. luctuosa, that ranges from the Thai-Malay Peninsula to Borneo and Sumatra. A melanistic form from Gunung Jerai, Peninsular Malaysia previously thought to be the same species is new to science and herein described based on new specimens and data. Based on morphology, colour pattern, and phylogenetic analyses using the mitochondrial genes 16s, ND1 and three tRNAs (tRNA-leu, tRNA-lle, and tRNA-gln), we determine that this new species, Abavorana nazgul sp. nov., is the sister lineage to other populations of A. lucutosa from Peninsular Malaysia and one from Borneo. It differs from A. luctuosa by a minimum sequence divergence of 7.5% and the following combination of morphological and colour pattern characteristics: (1) SVL 42.1–50.0 mm in adult males; (2) prominent but small humeral glands in males (2.3–2.5 mm); (3) dorsolateral stripe continuous, orange to yellow in colour; (4) mid-dorsal region of dorsum black, with or without faint orange or yellow speckles; (5) flanks with distinct cream spots; (6) dorsal surfaces of limbs with cream spots–bar; and (7) venter grayish brown, with prominent light spots on throat and belly. The discovery of yet another endemic species from the upland regions of Peninsular Malaysia highlights the rich diversity of these habitats and the need for more studies in montane areas throughout the region.

 

References

  1. Berry, P.Y. (1975) The amphibian fauna of Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Press, Kuala Lumper, 127 pp.

    Bradford, E.F. (1972) The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Gunong Jerai Area, Kedah. Geological Survey Headquarters, Ipoh, 242 pp.

    Camargo, A., De Sa, R.O. & Heyer, W.R. (2006) Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences reveal three cryptic lineages in the widespread neotropical frog Leptodactylus fuscus (Schneider, 1799) (Anura, Leptodactylidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 87 (2), 325–341.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00581.x

    Chan, K.O., Azman, M.S., Azlin, N. & Pan, K.A. (2009) Additions to the herpetofauna of Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Life Sciences Research, 20 (1), 71–80.

    Chan, K.O., Brown, R.M., Lim, K.K.P., Ahmad, N. & Grismer, L.L. (2014a) A new species of frog (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae) of the Hylarana signata complex from Peninsular Malaysia. Herpetologica, 70 (2), 228–240.

    Chan, K.O., Grismer, L.L., Anuar, S., Quah, E.S.H., Muin, M.A., Savage, A.E., Grismer, J.L., Norhayati, A., Remegio, A.C. & Greer, L.F. (2010a) A new endemic Rock Gecko Cnemaspis Strauch 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Gunung Jerai, Kedah, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 2576, 59–68.

    Chan, K.O., Belabut, D. & Ahmad, N. (2010b) A revised checklist of the amphibians of Peninsular Malaysia. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 17, 202–206.

    Chan, K.O., Wood, P.L., Jr., Anuar, S., Muin, M.A., Quah, E.S.H., Sumarli, A.X. & Grismer, L.L. (2014b) A new species of upland Stream Toad of the genus Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from northeasten Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 3764 (4), 427–440.

    Davis, H.R., Grismer, L.L., Klabacka, R.L., Muin, M.A., Quah, E.S.H., Anuar, S., Wood, P.L. Jr. & Sites, J.W. Jr. (2016) The phylogenetic relationships of a new Stream Toad of the genus Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from a montane region in Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 4103 (2), 137–153.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4103.2.4

    De Queiroz, K. (2005) A Unified Concept of Species and its consequences for the future of taxonomy. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 56, 196–215.

    Dubois, A. (1992) Notes sur la classification des Ranidae (Amphibiens anoures). Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon, 61, 305–352.
    https://doi.org/10.3406/linly.1992.11011

    Flower, S.S. (1896) Notes on a second collection of batrachians made in the Malay Peninsula 1895–96, with a list of the species recorded from that region. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1896, 856–914.

    Frost, D.R. (2017) Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. Electronic Database. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Available from: http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.html
    (accessed 21 June 2017)

    Grandison, A.G.C. (1972) The Gunong Benom Expedition 1967. 5. Reptiles and amphibians of Gunong Benom with a description of a new species of Macrocalamus. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Zoology), 23, 45–101.

    Grismer, L.L., Chan, K.O., Grismer, J.L., Wood, P.L. Jr. & Norhayati, A. (2010) A checklist of the herpetofauna of the Banjaran Bintang, Peninsular Malaysia. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 17, 147–160.

    Grismer, L.L. & Quah, E.S.H. (2015) The Rediscovery of Sphenomorphus malayanus Doria, 1888 (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Titiwangsa Mountain Range of Peninsular Malaysia and its re-description as S. senja sp. nov. Zootaxa, 3931 (1), 63–70.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3931.1.4

    Grismer, L.L, Quah, E.S.H., Wood, P.L. Jr., Anuar, S., Muin, M.A., Davis, H.R., Murdoch, M.L., Grismer, J.L., Cota, M. & Cobos, A.J. (2016) Dragons in the mist: three new species of Pseudocalotes Fitzinger (Squamata: Agamidae) from the sky island archipelago of Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 4136 (3), 461–490.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4136.3.3

    Grismer, L.L., Shahrul, A., Muin, M.A., Quah, E.S.H. & Wood, P.L. Jr. (2013a) Phylogenetic relationships and description of a new upland species of Bent-toed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827) of the C. sworderi complex from northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 3616 (3), 239–252.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3616.3.2

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Quah, E.S.H., Shahrul, A., Muin, M.A. Sumontha, M., Norhayati, A., Bauer, A.M., Wangkulangkul, S., Grismer, J.L. & Pauwels, O.S.G. (2012) A phylogeny and taxonomy of the Thai-Malay Peninsula Bent-toed Geckos of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae): combined morphological and molecular analyses with descriptions of seven new species. Zootaxa, 3520, 1–55.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Anuar, S., Muin, M.A., Quah, E.S.H., McGuire, J.A., Brown, R.M., Ngo, V.T. & Pham, H.T. (2013b) Integrative taxonomy uncovers high levels of cryptic species diversity in Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) and the description of a new species from Peninsular Malaysia. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 169, 849–880.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Anuar, S., Quah, E.S.H., Muin, M.A., Maketab, M., Chan, K.O., Sumarli, A.X., Loredo, A.I. & Heinz, H.M. (2014a) The phylogenetic relationship of three new species of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from poorly explored regions in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 3764 (4), 427–440.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Anuar, S., Quah, E.S.H., Muin, M.A., Chan, K.O., Sumarli, A.X. & Loredo, A.I. (2015b) Repeated evolution of sympatric, paleoendemic species in closely related, co-distributed lineages of Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) across a sky-island archipelago in Peninsular Malaysia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 174, 859–876.

    Grismer, L.L, Wood, P.L. Jr., Lee, C.H., Quah, E.S.H., Anuar, S., Ngadi, E. & Sites, J.W. Jr. (2015a) An integrative taxonomic review of the genus Bronchocela (Kuhl, 1820) from Peninsular Malaysia with descriptions of new montane and insular endemics. Zootaxa, 3948 (1), 1–23.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, P.L. Jr., Shahrul, A., Riyanto, A., Norhayati, A., Muin, M.A, Sumontha, M., Grismer, J.L., Chan, K.O., Quah, E.S.H. & Pauwels, O.S.G. (2014b) Systematics and natural history of Southeast Asian Rock Geckos (genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887) with descriptions of eight new species from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Zootaxa, 3880 (1), 1–147.

    Huelsenbeck, J.P. & Ronquist, F. (2001) MrBayes: Bayesian Inference of Phylogenetic Trees. Bioinformatics (Oxford), 17, 754–755.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/17.8.754

    Inger, R.F. (1966) The systematics and zoogeography of the Amphibia of Borneo. Fieldiana: Zoology, 52, 1–402.

    Inger, R.F. & Stuebing, R.B. (2005) A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo. 2nd Edition. Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn Bhd. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, viii + 201 pp.

    Kearse, M., Moir, R., Wilson, A., Stones-Havas, S., Cheung, M., Sturrock, S., Buxton, S., Cooper, A., Markowitz, S., Duran, C., Thierer, T., Ashton, B., Mentlies, P. & Drummond, A. (2012) Geneious basic: an integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data. Bioinformatics, 28 (12), 1647–1649.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/bts199

    Leong, T.M. & Lim, K.K.P. (2003b) Herpetofaunal records from Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia with larval descriptions of Limnonectes nitidus and Theloderma asperum (Amphibia: Ranidae and Rhacophoridae). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 51, 123–136.

    Lim, K.K.P., Leong, T.M. & Lim, B.L. (2002) Herpetofaunal records from Cameron Highlands, peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 20, 49–57.

    Loredo, A.I., Wood, P.L. Jr., Quah, E.S.H., Anuar, S., Greer, L.F. & Grismer, L.L. (2013) A phylogenetic based taxonomy of Asthenodipsas vertebralis (Boulenger, 1900), the description of a new species from Peninsular Malaysia, and the resurrection of a species from Sumatra. Zootaxa, 3664 (4), 505–524.

    Maddison, D.R. & Maddison, W.P. (2015) Mesquite: a modular system for evolutionary analysis. Version 3.04. Available from: http://mesquiteproject.org (accessed 25 July 2017)

    Malkmus, R., Manthey, U., Vogel, G., Hoffmann, P. & Kosuch, J. (2002) Amphibians and Reptiles of Mount Kinabalu (NorthBorneo). A.R.G. Ganter Verlag Kommanditgesellschaft, Ruggel, 424 pp.

    Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. (1997) Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 512 pp.

    Matsui, M., Belabut, D.M. & Ahmad, N. (2014) Two new species of fanged frogs from Peninsular Malaysia (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 3881 (1), 75–93.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3881.1.6

    Matsui, M., Belabut, D.M., Norhayati, A. & Yong, H.S. (2009) A new species of Leptolalax (Amphibia, Anura, Megophryidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Zoological Science, 26, 243–247.
    https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.26.243

    Matsui, M. & Jaafar, I. (2006) A new cascade frog of subgenus Odorrana from Peninsular Malaysia. Zoological Science, 23 (7), 647–651.
    https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.23.647

    Minh, Q., Nguyen, M.A.T. & von Haeseler, A. (2013) Ultrafast approximation for phylogenetic bootstrap. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30, 1188–1195.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst024

    Nylander, J., Olsson, U., Alström, P. & Sanmartín, I. & Baker, A. (2008) Accounting for Phylogenetic Uncertainty in Biogeography: A Bayesian Approach to Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis of the Thrushes (Aves: Turdus). Systematic Biology, 57, 257–268.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150802044003

    Oliver, L.A., Prendini, E., Kraus, F. & Raxworthy, C.J. (2015) Systematics and biogeography of the Hylarana frog (Anura: Ranidae) radiation across tropical Australasia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 90, 176–192.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.05.001

    Peters, W.C.H. (1871) Über neue Reptilien aus Ostafrica und Sarawak (Borneo), vorzüglich aus der Sammlung des Hrn. Marquis J. Doria zu Genua. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussische Akademie des Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1871, 566–581.

    Robinson, H.C. & Kloss, C.B. (1916) The Natural History of Kedah Peak. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 7 (2), 219–244.

    Ronquist, F. & Huelsenbeck, J.P. (2003) MrBayes 3: Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference under Mixed Models. Bioinformatics (Oxford), 19, 1572–1574.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btg180

    Shahrul Anuar MS., Mark Rayan, D., Nurul ‘Ain, E., Nor Zalipah, M., Mohd Yusof, O. & Ganesan, M. (2006) Brief notes on the reptilian fauna of Gunung Jerai. In: Shaharuddin, M.I., Wan Yusoff, W.A., Md. Som, J., Yusoff, M. & Latiff, A. (Eds.), Hutan Simpan Gunung Jerai, Kedah: Pengurusan, persekitaran fizikal dan kepelbagaian biologi. Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, pp. 427–432.

    Sukumaran, J. (2005) Anuran Assemblages of Gunung Jerai, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia. Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis. Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 102 pp.

    Tamura, K., Peterson, D., Peterson, N., Stecher, G., Nei, M. & Kumar, S. (2011) MEGA5: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis using Maximum Likelihood, Evolutionary Distance, and Maximum Parsimony Methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 28, 2731–2739.
    https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. George Allen & Unwin, 398 pp.

    Trifinopoulos, J., Nguyen, L.T., von Haeseler, A. & Minh, B.Q. (2016) W-iq-tree: a fast online phylogenetic tool for maximum likelihood analysis. Nucleic Acids Research 44, 232–235. [W232–W235]
    https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw256

    Wiens, J.J. & Penkrot, T.A. (2002) Delimiting species using DNA and morphological variation and discordant species limits in spiny lizards (Sceloporus). Systematic Biology, 51, 69–91.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/106351502753475880

    Wilcox, T.P., Zwickl, D.J., Heath, T.A. & Hillis, D.M. (2002) Phylogenetic Relationships of the Dwarf Boas and a Comparison of Bayesian and Bootstrap Measures of Phylogenetic Support. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 25, 361–371.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00244-0

    Wood, P.L. Jr., Grismer, L.L., Norhayati, A. & Senawi, J. (2008) Two new species of torrent-dwelling toads Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Herpetologica, 64 (3), 321–340.
    https://doi.org/10.1655/07-065.1

    Wood, P.L. Jr., Grismer, J.L., Grismer, L.L., Norhayati, A., Chan, K.O. & Bauer, A.M. (2009) Two new montane species of Acanthosaura Gray, 1831 (Squamata: Agamidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Zootaxa, 2012, 28–46.

    WWF Malaysia (1977) Gunung Jerai State Park, Kedah: Its Natural Resources and its Future Role. World Wildlife Fund Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 34 + xxxi leaves.

    Zug, G.R. (2010) Speciation and dispersal in a low diversity taxon: the Slender Geckos Hemiphyllodactylus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series, 63 (1), 1–70.
    https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.631