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| Rhacophorus napoensis |
Abstract
Based on morphological and molecular evidence of five male adult specimens collected from Napo County, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, we describe a new species of Rhacophorus, Rhacophorus napoensis sp. nov. This new species is similar to Rhacophorus rhodopus Liu & Hu, 1959 and Rhacophorus bipunctatus Ahl, 1927 in morphology, but it can be distinguished from the latter two by the following morphological characteristics: head width is greater than head length, snout pointed, loreal region oblique, tympanum distinct, maxillary teeth distinct, tongue cordiform, external single subgular vocal sac, tibiotarsal articulation reaches the snout, tibia length is greater than foot length and slightly greater than half of snout-vent length, and single outer metatarsal tubercle is flat. The phylogenetic tree constructed based on 16S rRNA sequence shows that all individuals of this species clustered into the same clade, and genetically this new species differs from R. rhodopus and R. bipunctatus by 7.71% and 7.98% in 16S rRNA sequences, respectively.
Keywords: 16S rRNA, morphology, Rhacophorus napoensis sp. nov., Rhacophorus rhodopus, taxonomy
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| Dorsal views (a) and ventral views (b) of the holotype of Rhacophorus napoensis sp. nov. (GXNU YU000172) in preservative. Ventral view (c) of R. rhodopus from type locality (090142) in preservative. |
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| Right armpit and flank view (a) and the left armpit and flank view (b) of the holotype of Rhacophorus napoensis sp. nov. (GXNU YU000172) in preservative. |
Rhacophorus napoensis sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Morphologically, there are the following differences between Napo County specimens and other species belonging to Rhacophorus: (1) Medium body size (adult males SVL 38.6–43.6 mm); (2) snout pointed, projecting beyond margin of lower jaw in ventral view, and the tip has a distinct bulge; (3) tympanum distinct, rounded; (4) maxillary teeth distinct; (5) tongue cordiform, notably notched posteriorly; (6) external single subgular vocal sac; (7) the tibiotarsal articulation reaches the snout; (8) TIL longer than FL and slightly longer than half of SVL; (9) entire web between fingers and toes; (10) single inner metatarsal tubercle, flat; (11) banding exists in dorsal surface of limbs posterior part of dorsum; (12) two to three black spots at axillary region; (13) web is not black; and (14) dorsal color hoary with numerous black spots when the species is kept in preservative.
Etymology: The specific epithet is named for the type locality. We suggest the English common name as “Napo tree frog” and the Chinese common name as “那坡树蛙”.
Distribution and ecology: The new species was found near several large rocks in the bushes, 306 m southeast of Nongyao, Napo County, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China (Fig. 7). Vocal recordings and tadpoles of this new species were not collected.
Jing Li, Shuo Liu, Guohua Yu and Tao Sun. 2022. A New Species of Rhacophorus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Guangxi, China. ZooKeys. 1117: 123-138. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1117.85787