Sunday, July 24, 2022

[Herpetology • 2022] Ansonia infernalis • A New Species of Stream Toad of the Genus Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from Nakhon Si Thammarat Range in southern Thailand

 

Ansonia infernalis
Suwannapoom, Grismer, Pawangkhanant & Poyarkov, 2022

Infernal Stream Toad | คางคกห้วยนรก  ||  DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.2.2
 
Abstract
An integrative taxonomic analysis confirmed the new species status of a recently discovered upland population of Ansonia from Thongsong, Thongsong District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand from the sky island archipelago south of the Isthmus of Kra. Ansonia infernalis sp. nov. is a member of the Thai-Burmese clade within the more inclusive Thai-Malaya Peninsula clade of western and southern Thailand. It is separated from all other species of Ansonia by a unique combination of morphometric and discrete morphological and color pattern characteristics and is the sister species of a clade of eight other species found north of the Isthmus of Kra. Ansonia infernalis sp. nov. is the newest member of a long list of range-restricted endemics from the sky island archipelago of the Thai-Malay Peninsula and continues to underscore the unexplored nature of this region and its need for conservation.

Keywords: Amphibia, molecular phylogenetics, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Integrative taxonomy, Southeast Asia, stream toads 

Ansonia infernalis sp. nov.
 Lateral view of male holotype (AUP-00327)
 Photographs by P. Pawangkhanant. 
 
Ansonia infernalis sp. nov. 
Male (not collected) in situ at the type locality
in Thungsong District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Provice, Thailand.
Photographs by P. Pawangkhanant.


Ansonia infernalis sp. nov.
Suggested Common Name: Infernal Stream Toad (English), 
คางคกห้วยนรก (Kang Kok Huay Narok) (Thai).

Etymology. The specific name “infernalis” is a Latin adjective meaning “infernal”, “hellish”, and “lower”. The specific name of the new species is in reference to the bright reddish orange coloration of the limbs and flanks that resemble the flames of hell, and also to the low elevation on which the new species can be found.
 

Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, L. Lee Grismer, Parinya Pawangkhanant and Nikolay A. Poyarkov. 2022. A New Species of Stream Toad of the Genus Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from Nakhon Si Thammarat Range in southern Thailand. Zootaxa. 5168(2); 119-136. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.2.2