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| Alcalus tongbiguanensis Yu, Wu, Li, Wang & Che, in Yu, Wang, Chen, Li, Kilunda, Zhao, Y-y. Wu, Yang, Duan, Zuo, Zhang, Murphy, Y.h. Wu et Che, 2025. |
Abstract
The anuran family Ceratobatrachidae is one of the most speciose groups of amphibians, but the geographic distributions of many genera and species await documentation. During the field survey of Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve in southwestern Yunnan Province, China, at the China-Myanmar border region, we collected several frogs that resemble the genus Alcalus, which was previously known from Indochina only. Based on mitochondrial phylogeny, our newly collected specimens are sister to Alcalus fontinalis Boruah, Narayanan, Gerard, Das, and Deepak, 2023 from Northeast India, but it differs from the latter by a suit of characters, including in differences in body size, head length, snout length, tympanum diameter, eye diameter, forearm length, toe webbing formula, relative length of fingers and toes, and dorsal pattern and coloration. Herein, based on the integration of morphological and genetic data, we report the genus Alcalus from China for the first time and describe a new species from China-Myanmar border region. Our study further demonstrates that southern section of the Gaoligong Mountain has a rich diversity of amphibians that warrant continuous survey efforts. Future fieldwork in these mountains is needed to better understand and fully uncover the species richness in this border region.
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| Holotype (KIZ 053839) of Alcalus tongbiguanensis sp. nov. in life. A: Lateral view; B: Lateral view of head; C: Ventral view; D: Ventral view of hand; E: Ventral view of foot; F: habitat. Photos by Zhongbin YU. |
Alcalus tongbiguanensis sp. nov. Yu, Wu, Li, Wang & Che
Diagnosis:
Alcalus tongbiguanensis sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Alcalus by having a broad head, wrinkled skins, no vocal sacs, widely expanded toes discs, semi-aquatic microhabitat preferences, nuptial pads present and vocal sacs absent in males, outer metatarsal tubercles absent (Brown et al., 2015).
Alcalus tongbiguanensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners, namely A. baluensis ( Boulenger, 1896), A. fontinalis, A. mariae ( Inger, 1954), A. pullus ( Smith, 1921), A. rajae (Iskandar, Bickford, and Arifin, 2011) and A. sariba ( Shelford, 1905), by a combination of the following characters (Boulenger 1896; Boruah et al. 2023; Inger 1954; Iskandar et al., 2011; Shelford 1905; Smith 1921): (1) medium body-size (SVL 27.7–28.8 mm in two adult males, SVL 29.3–37.7 mm in seven adult females; Table 2); (2) reticulated ridges present on the skin, distinct on dorsal surfaces of head, body, and limbs, as well as on gular and chest, less prominent on abdomen and ...
Etymology: The new species name “tongbiguanensis” is derived from the type locality, Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve, which has been a hot-spot for new species discovery in recent years. We suggest Tongbiguan Dwarf Mountain Frog as its English common name and “铜壁关小山蛙” (Pinyin: tóng bì guān xiǎo shān wā) as its Chinese common name. For the newly recorded genus, we recommend “小山蛙属” (xiǎo shān wā shǔ) as its Chinese common name.
Zhongbin YU, Kai WANG, Tianen CHEN, Ling LI, Felista Kasyoka KILUNDA, Haipeng ZHAO, Yayong WU, Shenpin YANG, Zhengpan DUAN, Anru ZUO, Dingcan ZHANG, Robert W. MURPHY, Yunhe WU and Jing CHE. 2025. First Record of the Genus Alcalus (Anura, Ceratobatrachidae) and Describe a New Species from Yunnan, China. Asian Herpetological Research. 16(2); 160 - 168. DOI: doi.org/10.3724/ahr.2095-0357.2024.0035 [May 27, 2025 ]
