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| Vietnamophryne occidentalis
Poyarkov, Suwannapoom, Pawangkhanant, Aksornneam, Duong, Korost & Che, 2018
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Abstract
We report on the discovery of a new genus of microhylid subfamily Asterophryinae from northern and eastern Indochina, containing three new species. Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. are secretive miniaturized frogs (SVL<21 mm) with a mostly semi-fossorial lifestyle. To assess phylogenetic relationships, we studied 12S rRNA-16S rRNA mtDNA fragments with a final alignment of 2?591 bp for 53 microhylid species. External morphology characters and osteological characteristics analyzed using micro-CT scanning were used for describing the new genus. Results of phylogenetic analyses assigned the new genus into the mainly Australasian subfamily Asterophryinae as a sister taxon to the genus Siamophryne from southern Indochina. The three specimens collected from Gia Lai Province in central Vietnam, Cao Bang Province in northern Vietnam, and Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand proved to be separate species, different both in morphology and genetics (genetic divergence 3.1%≤P≤5.1%). Our work provides further evidence for the “out of Indo-Eurasia” scenario for Asterophryinae, indicating that the initial cladogenesis and differentiation of this group of frogs occurred in the Indochina Peninsula. To date, each of the three new species of Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. is known only from a single specimen; thus, their distribution, life history, and conservation status require further study.
Keywords: Vietnamophryne Gen. nov., Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov., Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov., Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov., Siamophryne, Gastrophrynoides, mtDNA, micro-CT scanning, Vietnam, Thailand, Herpetofauna, Amphibia, Biogeography, Taxonomy, Indochina
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| Figure 2 Bayesian inference dendrogram of Asterophryinae derived from analysis of 2 591-bp long 12S rRNA – 16S rRNA mtDNA gene fragments Voucher specimen IDs and GenBank accession numbers are given in Table 1. Sequence of Rhacophorus schlegelii was used as an outgroup. Numbers near branches represent posterior probability (PP) or bootstrap support values (BS, 1 000 replicates) for BI/ML inferences, respectively. Photos by N. A. Poyarkov and Y. Lee. |
Amphibia Linnaeus, 1758
Anura Fischer von Waldheim, 1813
Microhylidae Günther, 1858
Asterophryinae Günther, 1858
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| Figure 5 Three male holotypes of Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. species in life A: Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5820); B: Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5821); C: Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5822). |
Vietnamophryne Gen. nov.
Type species: Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov.
Other included species: Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov.; Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov.
Etymology: The generic nomen Vietnamophryne is derived from “Vietnam”, the name of the country where the representatives of this genus were first recorded and where two of the three known species of the genus occur; and Greek noun “phryne” (Φρύνη; feminine gender), meaning “toad” in English; this root is often used in generic names in Asterophryinae frogs. Gender of the new genus is feminine.
Suggested common names: We suggest the name “Indochinese Dwarf Frogs” as a common name of the new genus in English, “Nhái Lùn” as a common name of the new genus in Vietnamese, and “Eung Tham Khaera, อึ่งถ้ำแคระ” as a common name of the new genus in Thai.
Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov
Etymology: The specific name “inexpectata” is a Latin adjective in the nominative singular meaning “unexpected”; referring to the surprising discovery of this frog species in 2016, which belongs to the mainly Australasian subfamily Asterophryinae; until recently (Suwannapoom et al., 2018) members of Asterophryinae were not recorded from mainland Southeast Asia or eastern Indochina.
Suggested common names. We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Tay Nguyen Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Nhái Lùn Tây Nguyên” (Vietnamese).
Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov.
Etymology: The specific name “orlovi” is a Latinized patronymic in genitive singular; the name of the new species is given in honor of Dr. Nikolai L. Orlov (ZISP, St. Petersburg, Russia) for recognition of his outstanding contribution to the knowledge of herpetofauna of Indochina.
Suggested common names: We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Orlov’s Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Nhái Lùn Ðông Bac” (Vietnamese).
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| [upper] Male holotype of Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5822) in life A: Dorsal view; B: Ventral view. [lower] Microhabitat at type locality of V. occidentalis sp. nov. in Doi Tung Mt., Chiang Rai Province, Thailand
(Photos by P. Pawangkhanant and M. Naidaungchan)
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| Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov. (ZMMU A-5822). |
Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov.
Etymology: The specific name “occidentalis” is a Latin adjective in the nominative singular meaning “western”; referring to the type locality of the new species in western Indochina (Chiang Rai Province of Thailand) – to date, the westernmost area where members of the subfamily Asterophryinae are recorded.
Suggested common names: We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Chiang Rai Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Eung Tham Khaera Chiang Rai, อึ่งถ้ำแคระเชียงราย” (Thai).
Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Jr., Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Akrachai Aksornneam, Tang Van Duong, Dmitriy V. Korost and Jing Che. 2018. A New Genus and Three New Species of Miniaturized Microhylid Frogs from Indochina (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae: Asterophryinae). Zoological Research. DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2018.019
