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| Amolops pallasitatus Qi, Zhou, Lyu, Lu & Li
in Qi, Zhou, Lyu, ... et Li, 2019.
Chentang Cascade Frog || 陈塘湍蛙 ahr-journal.com
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Abstract
A new species, Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected from Chentang Town, Dinggyê County, southern Tibet, China. The new species can be distinguished from other known congeners by mitochondrial divergence and morphological characteristics including: (1) medium body size, SVL 70.6–72.3 mm in adult females; (2) skin smooth over the entire body; (3) absence of dorsolateral fold; (4) tympanum small, edge indistinct, less than half of eye diameter; (5) vomerine teeth in two short oblique; (6) circummarginal and transverse grooves absent on disk of the first finger; (7) presence of inner metacarpal tubercle; (8) toes fully webbed, webbing formula I 0 - 0- II 0 - ? III0 - 1+ IV 1+ - 0 V; (9) absence of outer metatarsal tubercle and tarsal glands; (10) tibio-tarsal articulation of the hind limb reaches posterior corners of the eye; (11) dorsum yellow-green, with irregular dark brown blotches without margins; (12) blotches concentrated on the dorsum, less on the flanks. In morphology, Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. is similar to A. himalayanus and A. formosus, the difference between them is length of hind limbs, web of toe and dorsal colour pattern. The systematic placement of the new species within the genus is unresolved and it is not assigned to any recognized species group, for the lack of convictive evidences.
Keywords: Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov.; mitochondrial; morphology; unknown species group; torrent frog
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| Figure 3: Holotype (SYNU 1507035, female) of Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. in life. Photo by Zhengyan Zhou. |
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| Figure 6: Paratype (SYNU 1507034, female) of Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. in life. Photo by Zhengyan Zhou. |
Amolops pallasitatus Qi, Zhou, Lyu, Lu & Li, sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characteristic: (1) medium body size, SVL 70.6–72.3 mm in adult females; (2) skin smooth over the entire body; (3) absence of dorsolateral fold; (4) tympanum small, edge indistinct, less than half of eye
diameter; (5) vomerine teeth in two short oblique; (6)
circummarginal and transverse grooves absent on disk of the first finger; (7) presence of inner metacarpal tubercle; (8) toes fully webbed, webbing formula I 0 - 0- II 0 - ½ III0 - 1+ IV 1+ - 0 V; (9) absence of outer metatarsal tubercle and tarsal glands; (10) tibio-tarsal articulation of the hind limb reaches posterior corners of the eye; (11) dorsum yellow-green, with irregular dark brown blotches without margins; (12) blotches concentrated on the dorsum, less on the flanks.
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| Figure 1: Map showing the collecting location of Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. indicated by red star. |
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| Figure 7: Habitat of Amolops pallasitatus sp. nov. in the type locality. Photo by Zhengyan Zhou. |
Etymology: The specific name pallasitatus means
“pallasite like”, which derived from meteoritics term
pallasite (a class of stony–iron meteorite). The name
refers to the numerous irregular dark brown blotches on
the dorsal background resembling olivine crystals in an
iron-nickel matrix. According to the type locality, we
suggest the English common name as “Chentang cascade
frog”, and the Chinese common name as “chén táng tuān
wā” ( 陈塘湍蛙).
Distribution: Currently, this species is only known
from Chentang Town, Dinggyê County, Tibet, China,
presumably also distributed in Nepal.
Ecology and habitat: All the specimens were caught
at night, living in high-altitude (3270 m a.s.l.) streams
within moist forest and grassland habitats (Figure 7). The
frog is hidden underwater during the day. When disturbed,
it jumped into the water immediately.
Shuo Qi, Zhengyan Zhou, Zhitong Lyu, Yuyan Lu, Han Wan, Mian Hou, Keji Guo and Pipeng Li. 2019. Description of A New Species of Amolops (Anura: Ranidae) from Tibet, China. Asian Herpetological Research. 10(4); 219-229. DOI: 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.190016
