Thursday, November 1, 2018

[Herpetology • 2018] Two New and Potentially Highly Threatened Megophrys Horned Frogs (Amphibia: Megophryidae) from Indochina’s Highest Mountains; Megophrys (Panophrys) fansipanensis & M. (P.) hoanglienensis


Megophrys (Panophrysfansipanensis
Tapley, Cutajar, Mahony, Nguyen, Dau, Luong, Le,  Nguyen, Nguyen, Portway, Lương & Rowley, 2018

Mount Fansipan horned frog || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.3.1 

Abstract
Megophrys are a group of morphologically conserved, primarily forest-dependent frogs known to harbour cryptic species diversity. In this study, we examined populations of small-sized Megophrys from mid- and high elevation locations in the Hoang Lien Range, northern Vietnam. On the basis of morphological, molecular and bioacoustic data, individuals of these populations differed from all species of Megophrys known from mainland Southeast Asia north of the Isthmus of Kra and from neighbouring provinces in China. Further, the newly collected specimens formed two distinct species-level groups. We herein describe two new speciesMegophrys fansipanensis sp. nov. and Megophrys hoanglienensis sp. nov. Both new species are range restricted and likely to be highly threatened by habitat degradation. These discoveries highlight the importance of the Hoang Lien Range for Vietnam’s amphibian diversity.

Keywords: Amphibia, Bioacoustics, Hoang Lien, Megophryinae, Megophrys fansipanensis sp. nov., Megophrys hoanglienensis sp. nov., Panophrys, Southeast Asia, sympatric, Xenophrys


Megophrys (Panophrysfansipanensis sp. nov.  in situ, unvouchered calling male.

Megophrys (Panophrysfansipanensis sp. nov.


Etymology: Specific epithet “fansipanensis” is a toponym in reference to the type locality of the species, meaning “from [Mount] Fansipan”. 

Suggested vernacular name: Mount Fansipan horned frog (English), Ếch sừng phan xi păng (Vietnamese).

     



unvouchered Megophrys (Panophryshoanglienensis sp. nov. in situ,
 Tam Duong District, Lai Chau Province, Vietnam.

Megophrys (Panophryshoanglienensis sp. nov.

Etymology: Specific epithet “hoanglienensis” is a toponym in reference to the type locality of the species, meaning “from Hoang LienRange

Suggested vernacular name: Hoang Lien horned frog (English), Ếch sừng hoàng liên (Vietnamese).


 Love Waterfall [1898 m asl], Hoang Lien National Park,
Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. 

    



 Benjamin Tapley, Timothy Cutajar, Stephen Mahony, Chung T. Nguyen, Vinh Q. Dau, Anh M. Luong, Dzung T. Le, Tao T. Nguyen, Truong Q. Nguyen, Christopher Portway, Hào V. Lương and Jodi J. L. Rowley. 2018. Two New and Potentially Highly threatened Megophrys Horned Frogs (Amphibia: Megophryidae) from Indochina’s Highest Mountains. Zootaxa. 4508(3); 301–333.  DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4508.3.1