Wednesday, September 2, 2020

[Herpetology • 2020] Zhangixalus jodiae • A New Species of the Genus Zhangixalus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam


 Zhangixalus jodiae 
Nguyen, Ninh, Orlov, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2020


ABSTRACT
A new rhacophorid species is described from Vietnam on the basis of nine specimens collected in Quan Ba District, Ha Giang Province, northeastern Vietnam. The new species is morphologically similar to Zhangixalus pinglongensis, Z. dorsoviridis, and Z. nigropunctatus, however, it differs from the latter by having the flank cream with large black blotches on axilla and groin. The genetic distance between the new species and Zhangixalus pinglongensis, Z. dorsoviridis and Z. nigropunctatus is >3.57% (16S mtDNA gene fragment). Zhangixalus jodiae sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species of Zhangixalus and other small rhacophorid species from Southeast Asia by a combination of the following characters: size small (SVL 36.1–39.8 mm in males); head as long as wide; vomerine teeth present; dorsal surface of head and body green without spots; axilla cream with large black blotches, groin and front-rear parts of the thigh, ventral surface of tibia black with orange blotches; lower jaw region greyish, chest and belly cream.

KEYWORDS: 
Zhangixalus jodiae sp. nov., molecular phylogeny, taxonomy, Ha Giang Province


Zhangixalus jodiae sp. nov. 
 Lateral views (A, B) and dorsal views of the left hand (C) & left foot (D) of the adult male holotype (VNMN 07121) from Quan Ba District, Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam.


Zhangixalus jodiae sp. nov.

Etymology. 
The specific epithet is in honour of Dr. Jodi Rowley from the Australian Museum for her great contribution to amphibian taxonomy in Asia. We propose the following colloquial names: Jodi’s Treefrog (English) and Ếch cây jô-đi (Vietnamese).


Tao Thien Nguyen ,Hoa Thi Ninh,Nikolai Orlov,Truong Quang Nguyen and Thomas Ziegler. 2020. A New Species of the Genus Zhangixalus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam. Journal of Natural History. Amphibian taxonomy: Early 21st century case studies. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1754484