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Issue: Vol. 4415 No. 3: 1 May 2018
Type: Article
Published: 2018-05-01
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4415.3.5
Page range: 498–512
Abstract views: 266
PDF downloaded: 4

A new species of cascade frog (Amphibia: Ranidae) in the Amolops monticola group from China

Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control of Yunnan Province,, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, Yunnan, China
Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, Nanjing 210042, Jiangsu, China
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
Amolops new species Ranidae Guangxi Yunnan Amphibia

Abstract

A new species, Amolops wenshanensis sp. nov., is described from Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces, China. The new species is a member of the A. monticola group, and is distinguished from its congeners using morphological and molecular data. The new species is diagnosed by having glandular dorsolateral folds; smooth skin; side of head dark with a light-colored upper lip stripe extending to axilla; green dorsal coloration in life; immaculate venter; indistinct transverse bands on dorsal surfaces of limbs; tympanum distinct; pineal body absent; all fingertips expanded with circummarginal grooves; two oblique vomerine teeth; vocal sac and white nuptial pad present in males; supratympanic fold absent; outer metatarsal tubercle absent; glandular gold-white flank spot absent; and skin on venter not translucent. A molecular phylogenetic analysis is performed using the mitochondrial (mt) NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) gene and parts of flanking tRNA genes for nine of the 15 members of the A. monticola group with available homologous sequences. The new species is sister to a clade containing A. cucae and A. compotrix, two species known from adjacent parts of Vietnam and Laos. The new species differs from its congeners by having an uncorrected p-distance of > 6.7% in the mt DNA fragment examined. At present, the new species is known from small, montane streams near Wenshan, Yunnan Province, and Jingxi, Guangxi Province, China.

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