Friday, June 6, 2025

[Herpetology • 2025] Hyla dabieshanensis • A New Species of the Genus Hyla (Anura: Hylidae) from the Dabie Mountains, Anhui, China


Hyla dabieshanensis  Zhang, Zhang & Zhang, 

in C.-W. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Cai, Yu, Pang, Jiang, Ding, Gong et B.-W. Zhang, 2025.

Abstract
Hyla tsinlingensis (Hu et al., 1966), is endemic to China, and is widely distributed in the Qinling and Dabie Mountains. Previous studies have suggested that genetic differentiation and geographical isolation exist between the Qinling Mountains population and Dabie Mountains population of H. tsinlingensis, and that the Dabie Mountains population is a cryptic species. Several Hyla specimens were collected from the Dabie Mountains of western Anhui Province, China during herpetological surveys from 2022‒2024; these specimens belonged to a species previously identified as H. tsinlingensis. Herein, we utilized phylogenetic analyses, morphological comparisons, and advertisement call comparisons, revealing significant differences from those of other known congeners; thus, we describe them as a new species. The discovery of this species implies that there are currently 18 identified species in the genus Hyla, 7 of which are found in China.

Keywords: Dabie Mountains, Hyla dabieshanensis sp. nov., Hyla tsinlingensis, Taxonomy, Morphology

Photographs of holotype AHUWFS001 of Hyla dabieshanensis sp. nov.
 A: Right lateral view; B: Left lateral view; C: Dorsal view; D: Ventral view; E: Dorsal view of hand; F: Ventral view of hand; G: Dorsal view of foot; H: Ventral view of foot.
Scale bars equal to 10 mm. Photos by Cai-wen Zhang and Yong Zhang.


Hyla dabieshanensis sp. nov. Zhang, Zhang, and Zhang

 

Cai-Wen Zhang, Yong Zhang, Yin-Fan Cai, Lei Yu, Da-Peng Pang, Qing-Yue Jiang, Jun Ding, Da-Jie Gong, Bao-Wei Zhang. 2025. A New Species of the Genus Hyla (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from the Dabie Mountains, Anhui, China. Zoological Research: Diversity and Conservation. 2(1): 42-54. DOI: doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2097-3772.2024.026