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| Brachytarsophrys popei
Zhao, Yang, Chen, Chen & Wang. 2014
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ABSTRACT
A new species, Brachytarsophrys popei sp. nov., is described based on a series of specimens collected from Mount Jinggang, Jiangxi Province, Taoyuandong Nature Reserve, Hunan Province and Nanling Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province, China. The new species can be easily distinguished from other known congeners by morphology, morphometrics and molecular data of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. It is characterized by its relatively small size with 86.2 mm in snout-vent length in adult female and 70.7 mm–83.5 mm in males; vomerine teeth bearing on two markedly elevated ridges, which projecting behind far beyond the posterior level of the choanae, widely separated by a distance nearly 1.5 times length of one; margin of tongue deeply notched behind; toes about one-third to two-thirds webbed in males, at most one-third webbed in female; the webs extending as a wide fringes along either side of toes; upper eyelid with tubercles, one of which is enlarged and becoming a remarkably prominent, bluntly conical light- yellow horn; black tiny nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first finger and second finger base, single vocal sac in males; gravid females bear pure yellowish oocytes; tadpoles with a transverse white stripe on ventral surface and two longitudinal white stripes along the sides of body. The new species represents the fifth known Brachytarsophrys species.
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| Figure 3 General aspect of Brachytarsophrys popei sp. nov. A: Dorsolateral view of the adult male holotype SYS a001867 in life. B: Dorsolateral view of the adult female paratype SYS a001875 in life. C: Ventral view of the holotype SYS a001867 in life. D: Ventral view of the paratype SYS a001875 in life. |
Etymology: The specific name “popei” is in honour of the noted American herpetologist Clifford H. Pope (1899–1974), in recognition of his efforts on biodiversity surveys and research of amphibians and reptiles in Southeast China. We propose the standard name “Pope’s Short-legged Toad”, chinese name “Po Shi Duan Tui Chan”.
Distribution: Currently, B. popei sp. nov. is distributed in the middle section of Luoxiao Mountains and Nanling Mountains in southern China, including three type localities: the Mount Jinggang, Jiangxi Province, the adjacent Taoyuangdong NR, Hunan Province, and the Nanling NR, Guangdong Province, China. In addition, the Yizhang County, Hunan Province bordered with the Nanling Nature Reserve, thus, population as B. carinense from Yizhang County of Hunan should be the B. popei sp. nov.
Jian Zhao, Jian-Huan Yang, Guo-Ling Chen, Chun-Quan Chen and Ying-Yong Wang. 2014. Description of A New Species of the Genus Brachytarsophrys Tian and Hu, 1983 (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from Southern China Based on Molecular and Morphological Data. ASIAN HERPETOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 5(3):150-156 DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1245.2014.00150
