Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2020-12-10
Page range: 451–473
Abstract views: 510
PDF downloaded: 13

A new fanged frog in the Limnonectes kuhlii complex (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from northeastern Cambodia

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601, USA.
James Madison University, Department of Biology, 951 Carrier Dr., MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801, USA.
James Madison University, Department of Biology, 951 Carrier Dr., MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801, USA.
James Madison University, Department of Biology, 951 Carrier Dr., MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801, USA.
Wild Earth Allies, 77a, Street Beton, Bayap Village, Sangkat Phnom Penh Thmei, Khan Sen Sok, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia. Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
James Madison University, Department of Biology, 951 Carrier Dr., MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801, USA.
Amphibia Anura Dicroglossidae

Abstract

The Limnonectes kuhlii complex is a group of morphologically similar species of fanged frogs distributed across much of mainland and insular Southeast Asia. Many new species in this complex have been described in recent years, primarily on the basis of mitochondrial DNA divergence corroborated by differences in linear measurements and qualitative characters. Males in this species complex develop enlarged heads at sexual maturity, but the degree of head enlargement varies among mature males, even within the same population. We evaluated the utility of body length (snout–vent length minus head length) in descriptive statistics and in size-adjusting measurements for traditional morphometric analysis, as well as a landmark-based geometric morphometric analysis of male head shape, in Indochinese species of the L. kuhlii complex. The analyses supported quantitative and qualitative morphological distinction of a divergent mitochondrial lineage of the L. kuhlii complex in northeastern Cambodia, and the lineage is described as a new species. Limnonectes fastigatus sp. nov. differs from its closest relatives and from geographically proximate members of the complex by having the combination of elongated, slender odontoids; nuptial pads on the first finger; immaculate belly; significantly different body length-adjusted measurements in both sexes; and a significantly different male head shape. The new species is the only member of the L. kuhlii complex known from Cambodia.

 

References

  1. Adams, D.C. & Otárola-Castillo, E. (2013) Geomorph: an R package for the collection and analysis of geometric morphometric shape data. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 4, 393–399.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12035

    Alberch, P. & Gale, E. (1985) A developmental analysis of an evolutionary trend: digital reduction in amphibians. Evolution, 39 (1), 8–23.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1985.tb04076.x

    Bickford, D., Lohman, D.J., Sodhi, N.S., Ng, P.K.L., Meier, R., Winker, K., Ingram, K.K. & Das, I. (2006) Cryptic species as a window on diversity and conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22 (3), 148–155.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2006.11.004

    Blackburn, D.C., Siler, C.D., Diesmos, A.C., McGuire, J.A., Cannatella, D.C. & Brown, R.M. (2013) An adaptive radiation of frogs in a Southeast Asian island archipelago. Evolution, 67 (9), 2631–2646.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.12145

    Boulenger, G.A. (1920) A monograph of the South Asian, Papuan, Melanesian and Australian frogs of the genus Rana. Records of the Indian Museum, 20, 1–226.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.12471

    Brereton, R.G. (2015) The Mahalanobis distance and its relationship to principal component scores. Journal of Chemometrics, 9, 143–145.

    https://doi.org/10.1002/cem.2692

    Brown, R.M., Prue, A., Chan, K.O., Gaulke, M., Sanguila, M.B. & Siler, C.D. (2017) Taxonomic reappraisal of the Northeast Mindanao Stream Frog, Sanguirana albotuberculata (Inger 1954), validation of Rana mearnsi, Stejneger 1905, and description of a new species from the central Philippines. Herpetological Monographs, 31, 182–203.

    https://doi.org/10.1655/HERPMONOGRAPHS-D-16-00009.1

    Chan, K.O., Abraham, R.K. & Badli-Sham, B.H. (2020) A revision of the Asian tree toad complex Rentapia hosii (Anura: Bufonidae) with the description of a new species from Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 68, 595–607.

    https://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2020-0075

    Darriba, D., Taboada, G.L., Doallo, R., & Posada, D. (2012) jModelTest 2: more models, new heuristics and parallel computing. Nature Methods, 9, 772.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2109

    Dehling, J.M. (2014) Eine neue Fangzahnfroschart der Gattung Limnonectes (Anura: Dicroglossidae) vom Gunung Lawit, Malaiische Halbinsel. Sauria, 36 (4), 17–30.

    Dehling, J.M. & Dehling, D.M. (2017) A new wide-headed Fanged Frog of the Limnonectes kuhlii group (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from western Borneo with a redescription of Rana conspicillata Günther, 1872. Zootaxa, 4317 (2), 291–309.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4317.2.6

    Emerson, S.B. (2001) A macroevolutionary study of historical contingency in the fanged frogs of Southeast Asia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 73, 139–151.

    https://doi.org/10.1006/bijl.2001.0531

    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 (1), 131–142.

    https://doi.org/10.1006/mpev.2000.0778

    Evans, B.J., Brown, R.M., McGuire, J.A., Supriatna, J., Andayani, N., Diesmos, A., Iskandar, D., Melnick, D.J. & Canatella, 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.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/10635150390251063

    Fei, L., Ye, C. & Jiang, J. (2010) Colored Atlas of Chinese Amphibians. Sichuan Publishing Group, Sichuan Publishing House of Science & Technology, Chengdu, 519 pp.

    Fei, L., Ye, C. & Jiang, J. (2013) Colored Atlas of Chinese Amphibians and their Distributions. Sichuan Publishing Group, Sichuan Publishing House of Science & Technology, Chengdu, 620 pp.

    Fei, L., Ye, C., Jiang, J., Xie, F. & Huang, Y. (2005) An Illustrated Key to Chinese Amphibians. Sichuan Publishing Group, Sichuan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Chengdu, 340 pp.

    Feinberg, J.A., Newman, C.E., Watkins-Colwell, G.J., Schlesinger, M.D., Zarate, B, Curry, B.R., Shaffer, H.B. & Burger, J. (2014) Cryptic diversity in Metropolis: confirmation of a new leopard frog species (Anura: Ranidae) from New York City and surrounding Atlantic coast regions. PLoS ONE, 9 (10), e108213.

    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0108213

    Fitzinger, L.J.F.J. (1843) Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus Primus. Amblygossae. Braumüller et Seidel, Vindobonae, 3 pp.

    Fornel, R., Cordeiro-Estrela, P. & de Freitas, T.R.O. (2018) Skull shape and size variation within and between mendocinus and torquatus groups in the genus Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) in chromosomal polymorphism context. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 41 (1), 263–272.

    https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2017-0074

    Frost, D.R. (2020) Amphibian Species of the World: an online reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Available from: https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php (accessed 22 October 2020)

    https://doi.org/10.5531/db.vz.0001

    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 Linnean Society, 147 (4), 489–513.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00223.x

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

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.3147

    Inger, R.F., Orlov, N. & Darevsky, I. (1999) Frogs of Vietnam: a report on new collections. Fieldiana, New Series, 92, 1–46.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.3478

    Inger, R.F. & Stuart, B.L. (2010) Systematics of Limnonectes (Taylorana) Dubois. Current Herpetology, 29 (2), 51–68.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00440.x

    Inger, R.F., Stuart, B.L. & Iskandar, D.T. (2009) Systematics of a widespread Southeast Asian frog, Rana chalconota (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 155, 123–147.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00440.x

    Katoh, K. & Standley, D.M. (2013) MAFFT Multiple Sequence Alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and stability. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30, 772–780.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst010

    Kiew, B.H. (1978) The nomenclature and identity of the Javanese frog Rana macrodon Dumeril and Bibron. Malayan Nature Journal, 31, 219–229.

    Klingenberg, C.P. (2011) MorphoJ: an integrated software package for geometric morphometrics. Molecular Ecology Resources, 11 (2), 353–357.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2010.02924.x

    Köhler, G. (2012) Color Catalogue for Field Biologists. Herpeton, Offenbach, 49 pp.

    Lambertz, M., Hartmann, T., Walsh, S., Geissler, P. & McLeod, D.S. (2014) Anatomy, histology, and systematic implications of the head ornamentation in the males of four species of Limnonectes (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 172 (1), 117–132.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj12171

    Liu, C.-C., Hu, S.-C., Fei, L. & Huang, C.-C. (1973) On collections of amphibians from Hainan Island. Acta Zoologica Sinica, 19 (4), 385–404.

    Matsui, M. (2015) A new species of Limnonectes from the border of East Kalimantan and Sarawak, Borneo Island (Anura, Dicroglossidae). Current Herpetology, 34 (2), 120–127.

    https://doi.org/10.5358/hsj.34.120

    Matsui, M., Belabut, D.M. & Ahmad, N. (2014a) 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., Kuraishi, N., Jiang, J.-P., Ota, H., Hamidy, A., Orlov, N.L. & Nishikawa, K. (2010a) Systematic reassessments of fanged frogs from China and adjacent regions (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 2345 (1), 33–42.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2345.1.3

    Matsui, M., Nishikawa, K. & Eto, K. (2014b) A new burrow-utilising fanged frog from Sarawak, East Malaysia (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 62, 679–687.

    Matsui, M., Panha, S., Khonsue, W. & Kuraishi, N. (2010b) Two new species of the “kuhlii” complex of the genus Limnonectes from Thailand (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 2615, 1–22.

    McLeod, D.S. (2008) A new species of big-headed, fanged dicroglossine frog (Genus Limnonectes) from Thailand. Zootaxa, 1807 (1), 26–46.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1807.1.2

    McLeod, D.S. (2010) Of Least Concern? Systematics of a cryptic species complex: Limnonectes kuhlii (Amphibia; Anura: Dicroglossidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 56, 991–1000.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.004

    McLeod, D.S., Horner, S.J., Husted, C., Barley, A. & Iskandar, D. (2011) “Same-same, but different”: an unusual new species of the Limnonectes kuhlii Complex from West Sumatra (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 2882 (1), 52–64.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2883.1.4

    Mcleod, D.S., Kelly, J.K. & Barley, A. (2012) “Same-same but different”: another new species of the Limnonectes kuhlii Complex from Thailand (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Russian Journal of Herpetology, 19 (3), 261–274.

    McLeod, D.S., Kurlbaum, S. & Hoang, N.V. (2015) More of the same: a diminutive new species of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex from northern Vietnam (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 3947 (2), 201–214.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3947.2.4

    Miller, M.A., Pfeiffer, W. & Schwartz, T. (2010) Creating the CIPRES Science Gateway for inference of large phylogenetic trees. Proceedings of the Gateway Computing Environments Workshop (GCE), 2010, 1–8.

    https://doi.org/10.1109/GCE.2010.5676129

    Moriarty, E.C. & Cannatella, D.C. (2004) Phylogenetic relationships of the North American chorus frogs (Pseudacris: Hylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 30, 409–420.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00186-6

    Neang, T. & Holden, J. (2008) A Field Guide to the Amphibians of Cambodia. Fauna & Flora International, Phnom Penh, 127 pp.

    Neang, T., Chan, S. & Poyarkov Jr., N.A. (2018) A new species of smooth skink (Squamata: Scincidae: Scincella) from Cambodia. Zoological Research, 39 (3), 220–240.

    https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2018.008

    Palumbi, S.R. (1996) Nucleic acids II: the polymerase chain reaction. In: Hillis, D.M., Moritz, C. & Mable, B.K. (Eds.), Molecular Systematics. 2nd Edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Vermont, pp. 205–247.

    Pham, C.T., Le, M.D., Ngo, H.T., Ziegler, T. & Nguyen, T.Q. (2018) A new species of Limnonectes (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Vietnam. Zootaxa, 4508 (1), 115–130.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4508.1.7

    Pham, C.T., Le, M.D., Nguyen, T.T., Ziegler, T., Wu, Z.J. & Nguyen, T.Q. (2017) A new species of Limnonectes (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Vietnam. Zootaxa, 4269 (4), 545–558.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4269.4.8

    Pope, C.H. (1931) Notes on amphibians from Fukien, Hainan, and other parts of China. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 61, 397–611.

    Poyarkov Jr., N.A., Geissler, P., Gorin, V.A., Dunayev, E.A., Hartmann, T. & Suwannapoom, C. (2019) Counting stripes: revision of the Lipinia vittigera complex (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincidae) with description of two new species from Indochina. Zoological Research, 40 (5), 358–393.

    https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2019.052

    Pyron, R.A. & Wiens, J.J. (2011) A large-scale phylogeny of Amphibia including over 2800 species, and a revised classification of extant frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 61, 543–583.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.06.012

    R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. Available from: https://www.R-project.org/ (accessed 8 November 2020)

    Rambaut, A., Drummond, A.J., Xie, D., Baele, G. & Suchard, M.A. (2018) Posterior summarization in Bayesian phylogenetics using Tracer 1.7. Systematic Biology, 67, 901–904.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syy032

    Ripley, B. (2020) MASS. R package. Version 7.3-51.6. Available from: https://www.rdocumentation.org/packages/MASS (accessed 8 November 2020)

    Rohlf, F.J. (2004) tpsDIG1: digitize landmarks & outlines from image files, scanner, or video. Version 1.40. State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York. Available from: https://life.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/ (accessed 8 November 2020)

    Rohlf, F.J. (2008) tpsUtil: file utility program. Version 1.40. State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York. Available from: https://life.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/ (accessed 8 November 2020)

    Ron, S.R., Venegas, P.J., Toral, E., Read, M., Ortiz, D.A. & Manzano, A.L. (2012) Systematics of the Osteocephalus buckleyi species complex (Anura, Hylidae) from Ecuador and Peru. ZooKeys, 229, 1–52.

    https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.229.3580

    Ronquist, F., Teslenko, M., Van der Mark, P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Höhna, S., Larget, B., Liu, L., Suchard, M.A. & Huelsenbeck, J.P. (2012) MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Systematic Biology, 61, 1–4.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029

    Rose, C.S., Murawinski, D. & Horne, V. (2015) Deconstructing cartilage shape and size into contributions from embryogenesis, metamorphosis, and tadpole and frog growth. Journal of Anatomy, 226 (6), 575–595.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12303

    Rowley, J.J.L., Le, D.T.T., Hoang, H.D. & Altig, R. (2014) The breeding behaviour, advertisement call and tadpole of Limnonectes dabanus (Anura: Dicroglossidae). Zootaxa, 3881 (2), 195–200.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3881.2.8

    Rowley, J.J.L., Stuart, B.L., Neang, T. & Emmett, D.A. (2010) A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from northeastern Cambodia. Zootaxa, 2657 (1), 57–68.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2567.1.3

    Rowley, J.J.L., Stuart, B.L., Neang, T., Hoang, H.D., Dau, V.Q., Nguyen, T.T. & Emmett, D.A. (2015a) A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from Vietnam and Cambodia. Zootaxa, 4039 (3), 401–417.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4039.3.1

    Schoen, S.N. (2020) Splitting up a complex mess: the effectiveness of statistical analysis on delimiting species complexes. M.Sc. Thesis. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Virginia, 54 pp.

    Sheridan, J.A. & Stuart, B.L. (2018) Hidden species diversity in Sylvirana nigrovittata (Amphibia: Ranidae) highlights the importance of taxonomic revisions in biodiversity conservation. PLoS ONE, 13 (3), e0192766.

    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192766

    Shi, H., Zhao, E. & Wang, L. (2011) Amphibians and Reptiles of Hainan. Science Press, Beijing, 285 pp.

    Simmons, J.E. (2015) Herpetological collecting and collections management. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Herpetological Circular, 42, 1–191.

    Stuart, B.L., Rowley, J.J.L., Neang, T., Emmett, D.A. & Som, S. (2010) Significant new records of amphibians and reptiles from Virachey National Park, northeastern Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History, 2010 (1), 38–47.

    Stuart, B.L., Sok, K. & Neang, T. (2006) A collection of amphibians and reptiles from hilly eastern Cambodia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 54 (1), 129–155.

    Stuart, B.L., Som, H.E., Neang, T., Hoang, H.D., Le, D.T.T., Dau, V.Q., Potter, K. & Rowley, J.J.L. (2020) Integrative taxonomic analysis reveals a new species of Leptobrachium (Anura: Megophryidae) from north-eastern Cambodia and central Vietnam. Journal of Natural History, 54 (1–4), 225–255.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2020.1756498

    Suwannapoom, C., Yuan, Z.-Y., Chen, J.-M., Hou, M., Zhao, H.-P., Wang, L.-J., Nguyen, T.S., Nguyen, T.Q, Murphy, R.W., Sullivan, J., McLeod, D.S. & Che, J. (2016) Taxonomic revision of the Chinese Limnonectes (Anura, Dicroglossidae) with the description of a new species from China and Myanmar. Zootaxa, 4093 (2), 181–200.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4093.2.2

    Swofford, D.L. (2003) PAUP: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (and Other Methods). Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, 142 pp.

    Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2012) Using Multivariate Statistics. 6th Edition. Pearson, Boston, Massachusetts, 983 pp.

    Taylor, E.H. (1923) Additions to the herpetological fauna of the Philippine Islands, III. Philippine Journal of Science, 22 (4), 515–557.

    Taylor, E.H. (1962) The amphibian fauna of Thailand. The University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 43, 265–599.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.13347

    Tschudi, J.J. von (1838) Classification der Batrachier, mit Berücksichtigung der fossilen Thiere dieser Abtheilung der Reptilien. Petitpierre, Neuchâtel, 99 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.4883

    Venables, W.N. & Ripley, B.D. (2002) Modern Applied Statistics with S. 4th Edition. Springer, New York, 510 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21706-2

    Wang, L.-J., Shi, H.-T., Hong, M.-L., Xiong, Y., Wang, J.-C. & Liang, W. (2005) Surveys of amphibians of Hainan with measurement of rare, especially endemic species. Sichuan Journal of Zoology, 24 (3), 301–308.

    Watters, J.L., Cummings, S.T., Flanagan, R.L. & Siler, C.D. (2016) Review of morphometric measurements used in anuran species descriptions and recommendations for a standardized approach. Zootaxa, 4072 (4), 477–495.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4072.4.6

    Ye, C.-Y., Fei, L. & Hu, S.-Q. (1993) Rare and Economic Amphibians of China. Sichuan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Chengdu, 412 pp.

    Ye, C.-Y., Fei, L., Xie, F. & Jiang, J.-P. (2007) A new Ranidae species from China—Limnonectes bannaensis (Ranidae: Anura). Zoological Research, 28 (5), 545–550.

    Zelditch, M.L., Swiderski, D.L. & Sheets, H.D. (2012) Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists: a Primer. 2nd Edition. Academic Press, Amsterdam, 478 pp.

    Zug, G.R., Vitt, L.J. & Caldwell, J.P. (2001) Herpetology: an Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press, San Diego, 630 pp.