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| Gracixalus huaping Luo, Zhang, Pan & Yu, 2025 |
Abstract
A new treefrog of the genus Gracixalus, Gracixalus huaping sp. nov., is described based on the specimens collected from Huaping National Natural Reserve, Guangxi, China. Both maximum likelihood analysis and Bayesian inference found that the Huaping population formed a distinct lineage as sister to Gracixalus jinxiuensis. It was strongly supported that Gracixalus consists of four distinct clades. Morphological analysis suggested that the new species can be distinguished from other known congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: size small, SVL 26.6–28.8 mm in males and 29.8–32.8 mm in females; vomerine teeth absent; dorsal surface yellowish brown; internal vocal sac and linea masculina present in males; vocal sac opening oval and rim of the opening dark brown; throat smooth; iris golden brown; flanks granular with white blotch. In addition, we agree that the genus Orixalus is a junior subjective synonym of Gracixalus and consider that more studies are needed to investigate the species diversity and taxonomy of genus Gracixalus.
Key Words: Gracixalus jinxiuensis, species diversity, taxonomy, Treefrog
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| Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views of the holotype of Gracixalus huaping sp. nov. (A. voucher no. GXNU YU000517) and topotype of G. jinxiuensis (B. GXNU YU000813) in life. The linea masculina was highlighted with arrows. Photos by Guohua Yu. |
Diagnosis.
The new species is assigned to genus Gracixalus based upon the following set of morphological characters: the presence of intercalary cartilage between terminal and penultimate phalanges of digits, tips of digits enlarged to discs bearing circum-marginal grooves, vomerine teeth absent, inner (first and second) and outer (third and fourth) fingers not opposable, and an inversed Y-shaped dark brown marking on the dorsum (Fei 1999; Yu et al. 2019; Tran et al. 2023).
The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters. (1) SVL 26.6–28.8 mm in males and 29.8–32.8 mm in females; (2) vomerine teeth absent; (3) dorsal surface yellowish brown; (4) few conical tubercles on dorsum; (5) internal vocal sac in males, vocal sac opening oval and rim of the opening dark brown; (6) throat smooth; (7) finger webbing rudimentary; (8) linea masculina present in males; (9) snout rounded; (10) tibiotarsal articulation reaching eye; (11) tibiotarsal projection absent; (12) ventral surface translucent, yellowish-white; (13) belly granular; (14) nuptial pads present on finger I; (15) heels overlapping when legs at right angle to body; (16) iris golden brown; and (17) flank rough with white tubercles.
Etymology. The specific epithet is named for Huaping, Guangxi, China, where the species was collected. We suggested “Huaping small tree frog” for the common English name and “花坪纤树蛙 (Huā Píng Xiān Shù Wā)” for the common Chinese name.
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| Habitat of Gracixalus huaping sp. nov. at the type locality (a) and eggs of the new species found in open-ended bamboo. Photos by Guohua Yu. |
Jiaqi Luo, Ben’an Zhang, Yuanqiang Pan and Guohua Yu. 2025. A New Species of Gracixalus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Guangxi, China, with comments on the taxonomy of Orixalus. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 101(1): 369-388. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.135742
