Monday, June 22, 2020

A new toad: Megophrys chishuiensis

A couple of months ago I posted about Litter frogs (Family Megophryidae) which live in South East Asia. They are mostly famous for their camouflage which makes many of them look like dead leaves. A widely known species is the long nosed horned frog. 

There is another new species from China this time found in the Chishui National Nature Reserve, Guizhou province. The species name refers to the location this species was found.


For the experts: A new species of the genus Megophrys is described from Guizhou Province, China. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA sequences all strongly supported the new species as an independent clade sister to M. minor and M. jiangi. The new species could be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size moderate (SVL 43.4–44.1 mm in males, and 44.8–49.8 mm in females; vomerine teeth absent; tongue not notched behind; a small horn-like tubercle at the edge of each upper eyelid; tympanum distinctly visible, rounded; two metacarpal tubercles on palm; relative finger lengths II < I < V < III; toes without webbing; heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level between tympanum and eye when leg stretched forward; in breeding males, an internal single subgular vocal sac in male, and the nuptial pads with black spines on dorsal surface of bases of the first two fingers.

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