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| Raorchestes asakgrensis Naveen, Chandramouli & Babu, in Naveen, Chandramouli, Babu, Ryndongsngi, Karunakaran et Kumara, 2024. |
Abstract
Bush frogs from Garo and Khasi Hills were collected, and a thorough examination based on morphology and geographic distribution revealed that two of the populations sampled from Garo Hills during this study agree with the holotypes and descriptions of the taxa Ixalus garo and I. kempiae, described more than a century ago. The original description lacked information on several morphological characters, genetic material, and photographs of the species in life. The absence of such information posed challenges in field identification of these species. Our phylogeny shows them to be nested within the Raorchestes clade, and therefore, we allocate these two species to this genus and formally announce their rediscovery. We also redescribe these two species here based on additional adult vouchers and report geographic range extensions from new localities. Based on molecular and morphological analysis, we reassess the status of the recently described Raorchestes cangyuanensis, resulting in its placement under the subjective junior synonymy of R. kempiae. We also describe a morphologically distinct new species from this region. This paper bridges an important gap in the knowledge of the genus Raorchestes in this part of India and highlights the importance of systematic surveys in documenting and understanding amphibian diversity in the region.
Key Words: cryptic diversity, Indo-Burma hotspot, IUCN red list, Rhacophoridae, synonymy, systematics
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| Raorchestes asakgrensis sp. nov. holotype, SACON VA 805, an adult female dorso-lateral view in life (above); paratype, SACON VA 340, an adult male dorso-lateral view in life (below). |
Raorchestes asakgrensis Naveen, Chandramouli & Babu, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Raorchestes asakgrensis sp. nov. is placed in the genus Raorchestes due to the combination of the following characters: small body size, vomerine teeth absent, single translucent external subgular vocal sac present, and tips of all fingers and toes expanded into discs with circum-marginal grooves (see Biju et al. 2010). The species can be distinguished from congeners in the Indo-China region by the following combination of characters: A small-sized (mean SVL 20.49 mm) arboreal species with an obtusely pointed snout; tympanum fairly visible with a visible supra-tympanic, ...
Etymology: The species is named after the type locality, Eman Asakgre Community Reserve, to honor the residents who greatly supported the surveys during which the type specimens were collected.
R. S. Naveen, S. R. Chandramouli, S. Babu, A. M. Ryndongsngi, P. V. Karunakaran and Honnavalli N. Kumara. 2024. Rediscovery and Redescription of Ixalus garo Boulenger, 1919, and Ixalus kempiae Boulenger, 1919, with A Reassessment of the Taxonomic Status of Raorchestes cangyuanensis Wu, Suwannapoom, Xu, Murphy & Che, 2019 and the Description of A New species from the Garo Hills of Meghalaya. Herpetozoa. 37: 359-372. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.37.e122825