Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Food Science and Engineering, Moutai Institute, Renhuai 564500, China Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu China
  • 2 Guizhou Yahua Forestry Engineering Design Consulting Co., Ltd., Guiyang, 550002, China Guizhou Yahua Forestry Engineering Design Consulting Co., Ltd. Guiyang China
  • 3 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guiyang College, Guiyang, 550002, China College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guiyang College Guiyang China
  • 4 Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China Moutai Institute Renhuai China
Zookeys, 2024;1189:33-54.
PMID: 38314114 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1189.115621

Abstract

The Torrent frogs of the genus Amolops are widely distributed in Nepal and northern India eastwards to southern China and southwards to Malaysia. The genus currently contains 84 species. Previous studies indicated underestimated species diversity in the genus. In the context, a new species occurring from the mountains in the northwestern Guizhou Province, China is found and described based on morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses, Amolopsdafangensissp. nov. Phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA and COI genes supported the new species as an independent lineage. The uncorrected genetic distances between the 16S rRNA and COI genes in the new species and its closest congener were 0.7% and 2.6%, respectively, which are higher than or at the same level as those among many pairs of congeners. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size moderate (SVL 43.2-46.8 mm in males); head length larger than head width slightly; tympanum distinct, oval; vocal sacs absent; vomerine teeth present; dorsolateral folds weak formed by series of glands; nuptial pads present on the base of finger I; heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level far beyond the tip of the snout when leg stretched forward.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.