Taxonomic status of fanged frogs from the Peninsular Malaysia, previously assigned to Limnonectes kuhlii, is assessed using genetic and morphological approaches. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from sequences of the mitochondrial and nuclear genes revealed that the fanged frogs from the Peninsula form a monophyletic group and are clearly divergent from other species previously, or even now, assigned to L. kuhlii from Mainland Southeast Asia. In both mtDNA and nuDNA phylogeny, the Malay Peninsula clade diverges into two lineages, one from north (Larut Hill, Perak, and Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu) and another from south (Genting Highlands, Pahang, and Gombak, Selangor). These lineages are separated by large genetic distances, comparable with those observed between some other species of L. kuhlii-like frogs. Although the two lineages are very similar morphologically, they are distinguishable in several morphological traits and are considered heterospecific. We therefore describe them as L. utara sp. nov. and L. selatan sp. nov. These new species differ from all other species of kuhlii-like frogs from Mainland Southeast Asia by the surface of tibia, which is densely covered by large warts.
A new species of Leptolalax is described from Kinabalu National Park in western Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. The new species had been assigned to L. dringi, L. gracilis, or L. fritinniens in the past. It differs from all congeners, including these species, by a unique combination of morphological characters, including small body size, rounded snout, narrower interorbital than upper eyelid, basal toe webbing, smooth skin with tiny tubercles on dorsum and dorsal side of head, small pectoral glands, absence of supraaxillary glands and ventrolateral glandular ridges, spotted venter, advertisement call consisting of long series of 1-149 notes, each composed of three or four pulses, and dominant frequency at 6.90-7.35 kHz, without prominent frequency modulation.
We describe a new species of Leptolalax from Gunung Mulu National Park in eastern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The new species had been assigned to Leptolalax dringi and Leptolalax gracilis in the past. It is shown to differ from both these species and from all other species of the genus by a unique combination of morphological characters including large body size, rounded snout, interorbital distance being smaller than width of upper eyelid, bipartite subgular vocal sac in males, basal toe webbing, shagreened skin with tiny tubercles on dorsum and dorsal side of head, angled supratympanic fold, small pectoral glands, absence of supraaxillary glands and ventrolateral glandular ridges, spotted venter, advertisement call consisting of long series of 8-289 notes, each composed of three or four pulses, and dominant frequency at 7225-9190 Hz, with prominent frequency modulation.
We found a uniquely colored dicroglossid frog of the genus Occidozyga from western Sarawak, East Malaysia. It is divergent from other congeners in morphology and mtDNA sequences. In a molecular phylogeny, this species is the sister lineage to the continental species O. lima and O. martensii with weak support. The species is small with SVL 16-18 mm in males and 18-19 mm in females, without dorsolateral fold but with transverse wrinkles on dorsum, tips of fingers lacking disks but of toes with disks, only first and second toes webbed to disks, and orange-brown dorsum with dark brown band. We thus describe it as a new species.
A new species of Asian rock gecko, genus Cnemaspis, is described from Padawan, western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The new species forms a clade with C. paripari and C. nigridia of the C. nigridia group in a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and is similar to them morphologically in some characters such as caudal scalation. It differs from the other Asian Cnemaspis species in its unique combination of snout-vent length (up to 62.7 mm), 4-9 precloacal pores in males, keeled subcaudals with an enlarged, smooth, median row, presence of ventrolateral caudal tubercles, and coloration (head and upper flanks dark-yellow; anterior portion of tail black; posterior portion of tail white with black, paravertebral blob). Phylogenetic relationships within the C. nigridia group and the distributional ranges of species within the group suggest allopatric speciation by geographic isolation.
A new megophryid species is described from southwestern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. In appearance, Leptolalax marmoratus sp. nov. is most similar to L. hamidi also from southwestern Sarawak, but differs from it by mtDNA sequence, larger body size, and higher dominant frequency of advertisement call. The assumption that more than one species of Leptolalax coexist at one locality in Borneo is supported. The finding of the new species raises the species number of Leptolalax known from Borneo to nine, and the island is thought to be one of the diversification centers of the genus.
We record a tree frog of the genus Chiromantis for the first time from outside the Southeast Asian continent and describe it as a new species, Chiromantis inexpectatus. The new species from the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo, is a small-sized Chiromantis (male snout-vent length ca. 22 mm), and is distinguished from all other members of the genus by the combination of the following morphological characteristics: dark stripes absent, but dark spots present on dorsum; a dark-brown lateral band present from snout tip to half of body, bordered ventrally by white stripe; third and fourth fingers less than half webbed; third finger disk wider than tympanum diameter; and inner metatarsal tubercle present. Significance of findings of this species from Borneo Island, as well as phylogeny and breeding habit of the genus Chiromantis, are briefly discussed.
A new microhylid, Kalophrynus yongi, Is described from the Cameron Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia. Morphologically, the new species differs from all known congeners by having a very stout forelimb with a humeral spine in males. Acoustically, it resembles K. baluensis and K. heterochirus and sharply differs from K. interlineatus, K. pleurostigma, K. palmatissimus, and K. nubicola.
A new species in the rhacophorid genus Philautus is described on the basis of five male specimens collected from the Matang Range, a herpetologically well-surveyed area of the lowland of Sarawak, western Borneo. The species possesses a cutaneous pectoris muscle but lacks vomerine teeth, and is assigned to the aurifasciatus group of Philautus. It is superficially similar to some other species of the same group, but can be differentiated from them by a combination of several morphological characters, including lack of a nuptial pad and lingual papilla, and more significantly, by a distinct advertisement call. This discovery underscores the immediate necessity for detailed surveys in the already well-explored lowlands of Borneo.
A new megophryid species, Leptolalax kecil, is described from the Cameron Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia on the basis of acoustic and morphological characteristics. It has an advertisement call dissimilar to that of other, congeneric species, and is the smallest of the known Leptolalax. It is similar to L. pluvialis from Vietnam in small body size, but differs from it in ventral color, and in the size and color of the pectoral gland. The distributional pattern of the new species Is discussed.
We describe a new species of torrent-dwelling ranid frog of the genus Meristogenys from the Crocker Range, western Sabah, northern Borneo. The new species, Meristogenys maryatiae, differs from congeners by the combination of: small body, males 31-37 mm and females 65-66 mm in snout-vent length; head narrower than long; eyes moderate, diameter subequal to snout; iris unicolored; legs long; ventral surface of tibia without heavy pigmentation; rear of thigh blotched dark brown and cream; toes fully webbed; outer metatarsal tubercle present; larval dental formula 7(4-7)/6(1).
Examination of types and recently collected specimens revealed that Ansonia anotis Inger, Tan, and Yambun, 2001 and Pedostibes maculatus (Mocquard, 1890), both described from Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, are hardly differentiated morphologically. Analyses of a total of 2,427 bp of the 12S rRNA, tRNA(val), and 16S mitochondrial rRNA genes revealed that the two species are very close genetically. Thus A. anotis is regarded as conspecific and is synonymized with P. maculatus. Genetically, this species proved to form a lineage distinct from other bufonids from Southeast Asia, including species of Ansonia and Pedostibes. Because the species has also some unique morphological traits different from known bufonid genera, we propose to establish a new genus for Nectophryne maculata Mocquard, 1890.
In order to elucidate the taxonomic status of the Fejervarya limnocharis complex relative to Malaysia and Japan populations, morphological observations and molecular phylogenetic analysis were carried out using three populations from Indonesia (type locality), Malaysia, and Japan. In addition, we conducted histological and spermatogenic observations using hybrids among these populations. Principal component and cluster analyses demonstrated that these populations could be clearly separated from one another. Abnormal testes were found in the hybrids between the Japan and Indonesia populations and between the Japan and Malaysia populations, but testes of the controls and hybrids between the Malaysia and Indonesia populations were quite normal. The mean number of univalents per cell was 5.42, 4.58, and 0.20 in hybrids between the Indonesia and Japan populations, Malaysia and Japan populations, and Indonesia and Malaysia populations, respectively. Sequence divergences in 16S rRNA and Cyt b genes were 0-0.4% (xbar=0.2%) and 0.3-1.5% (xbar=1.0%), respectively, between the Malaysia and Indonesia populations, and 2.4-2.6% (xbar=2.5%) and 11.0-12.0% (xbar=11.5%) between the Japan population and F. limnocharis complex, including the Malaysia and Indonesia populations and F. multistriata from China. This study indicated that the Malaysia population and F. multistriata from China should be designated as a subspecies of topotypic F. limnocharis, and that the Japan population should be regarded as a distinct species.
Two forms of Staurois that are differentiated by body size occur parapatrically in the Crocker Range, Sabah, Borneo. Analyses of a total of 1,499 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA genes revealed that the two forms could be completely split genetically. The two forms could be also clearly differentiated morphologically, not only by snout-vent length but also by the relative sizes of snout, eye, and finger disk. Comparisons of the two forms with all known species of the genus revealed the large and small forms to be S. tuberilinguis and S. parvus, respectively. The latter species has long been synonymized with the former, but we here consider them to represent different species.
Three new megophryid species, Leptolalax melanoleucus, L. fuliginosus, and L. solus, are described from southwestern and southern Thailand on the bases of acoustic and morphological characteristics. Leptolalax melanoleucus and L. fuliginosus are similar to L. pelodytoides from northern Thailand, but differ from it completely in advertisement call characteristics and ventral color. Leptolalax solus is similar to L. heteropus from peninsular Malaysia, but differs from it by advertisement call, as well as by some body proportions. The distributional pattern of Leptolalax within Thailand is discussed.
We describe a new species of cascade frog of the genus Rana, from west Malaysia. Rana monjerai, new species is a medium-sized frog of the subgenus Odorrana (SVL of males, 38-43 mm; of one female, 75 mm), and is distinguished from all other members of this subgenus by the combination of: white lip stripe, dorsolateral fold, full web on the fourth toe, vomerine teeth, gular vocal pouch and relatively large tympanum in males, no dorsal marking, no clear light spots on rear of thigh, first finger subequal to second, finely tuberculated dorsum, and unpigmented ova. The significance of finding this species from peninsular Malaysia is discussed.
A cryptic Bornean torrent frog of the genus Meristogenys, which is divergent genetically and morphologically from all known congeners, is described from mountain streams of western Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo). The species occurs sympatrically with the type species of the genus, M. jerboa, but apparently differs from it in adult coloration and larval morphology, such as keratodont formulae and glands in tail fins. Females of the new species possess much larger and fewer eggs than in sympatric M. jerboa, suggesting significantly different reproductive traits between these species. A key to larvae of known species of the genus is provided.
The red-bellied form of Calliophis intestinalis (Laurenti, 1768) sensu lato was originally reported from Pahang, west Malaysia. To determine the taxonomic status of this form, we examined the type specimens of Elaps sumatranus Lidth De Jeude, 1890, Calliophis intestinalis everetti (Boulenger, 1896), and Callophis furcatus var. nigrotaeniatus Peters, 1863. The results indicated that the red-bellied form of C. intestinalis should be named as Calliophis nigrotaeniatus comb. nov., whose valid species status was based on morphological and molecular analyses. We designate a lectotype and redescribe the species, which is genetically close to Calliophis bilineatus (Peters, 1881) from the Philippines, and is clearly distinguishable from other congeners by possessing a pair of gray or dark blue lateral stripes and by being bright red on the ventrum. Elaps sumatranus and C. i. everetti are relegated to subjective junior synonyms of C. nigrotaeniatus.
Two lineages of stream toads in the genus Ansonia from Malaysian Borneo have long been suspected to be specifically distinct on the basis of molecular data. We assessed the taxonomic status of these lineages using morphological and additional genetic data. In mtDNA phylogeny, each lineage-one from Bario, Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, the other from Mt. Mulu of Sarawak and the Crocker Range of Sabah-is separated from other congeners by large genetic distances, comparable with those observed between heterospecific species in the genus. These lineages are also morphologically distinguishable from other species, and are considered to represent valid, independently evolving species. We therefore describe them as A. kelabitensis sp. nov. and A. kanak sp. nov.
A new small, semi-arboreal toad of the genus Pelophryne is described from western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, on the basis of molecular and morphological evidence. Of the two morphotypes recognized in the genus, the new species belongs to the one in which the tips of the fingers are expanded into truncate discs. Among the species in the morphotype, the new species is most similar to P. murudensis, but differs from it by body size, relative hindlimb length, and dorsal coloration. The new species is currently known only from a limited area on Gunung (= Mt.) Penrissen, and future measures of its habitat conservation are necessary.