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Type: Article
Published: 2020-09-01
Page range: 35–52
Abstract views: 343
PDF downloaded: 11

The tadpoles of five Megophrys Horned frogs (Amphibia: Megophryidae) from the Hoang Lien Range, Vietnam

Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, United Kingdom.
Asian Turtle Program - Indo-Myanmar Conservation, CT1 Bac Ha C14 Building, To Huu Road, Ha Noi, Vietnam.
Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
Hoang lien National Park, Sa Pa, Lao Cai, Vietnam.
Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
Hoang lien National Park, Sa Pa, Lao Cai, Vietnam.
Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia. Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
Amphibia Atympanophrys Megophryinae Megophrys fansipanensis Megophrys jingdongensis Megophrys hoanglienensis Megophrys gigantica Megophrys maosonensis Panophrys Southeast Asia larvae Xenophrys

Abstract

Frogs in the genus Megophrys are an Asian radiation of stream-breeding frogs. The tadpoles of many Megophrys species are undescribed; those that are described are often dubiously allocated to species by association with post metamorphic specimens at collection sites and without supportive molecular data. We provide detailed descriptions of the larvae of five species of Megophrys from the Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam: Megophrys fansipanensis, M. gigantica, M. hoanglienensis, M. jingdongensis and M. maosonensis. Tadpoles from different subgenera differ from each other via a combination of patternation in life, oral disc shape and tail morphology but given the small sample size, and limited number of species it is unlikely that these differences can be applied more widely to delineate subgenera. Morphological differences between tadpoles from species within the subgenus Panophrys were insufficient to clearly delineate all species. The ability to identify tadpoles is likely to advance our understanding of the frog fauna in mainland southeast Asia.

 

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