Abstract
A new species of small tree frog from a primary montane tropical forest of central Vietnam, Tay Nguyen Plateau, is described based on morphological, molecular, and acoustic evidence. The Golden Bug-Eyed Frog, Theloderma auratum sp. nov., is distinguishable from its congeners and other small rhacophorid species based on a combination of the following morphological attributes: (1) bony ridges on head absent; (2) smooth skin completely lacking calcified warts or asperities; (3) pointed elongated tapering snout; (4) vocal opening in males absent; (5) vomerine teeth absent; (6) males of small body size (SVL 21.8–26.4 mm); (7) head longer than wide; ED/SVL ratio 13%–15%; ESL/SVL ratio 16%–20%; (8) small tympanum (TD/EL ratio 50%–60%) with few tiny tubercles; (9) supratympanic fold absent; (10) ventral surfaces completely smooth; (11) webbing between fingers absent; (12) outer and inner metacarpal tubercles present, supernumerary metacarpal tubercle single, medial, oval in shape; (13) toes half-webbed: I 2–2¼ II 1½–2¾ III 2–3¼ IV 3–1½ V; (14) inner metatarsal tubercle present, oval; outer metatarsal tubercle absent; (15) iris bicolored; (16) dorsal surfaces golden-yellow with sparse golden-orange speckling or reticulations and few small dark-brown spots; (17) lateral sides of head and body with wide dark reddish-brown to black lateral stripes, clearly separated from lighter dorsal coloration by straight contrasting edge; (18) ventral surfaces of body, throat, and chest greyish-blue with indistinct brown confluent blotches; (19) upper eyelids with few (3–5) very small flat reddish superciliary tubercles; (20) limbs dorsally reddish-brown, ventrally brown with small bluish-white speckles. The new species is also distinct from all congeners in 12S rRNA to 16S rRNA mitochondrial DNA fragment sequences (uncorrected genetic distance P>8.9%). Advertisement call and tadpole morphology of the new species are described. Our molecular data showed Theloderma auratum sp. nov. to be a sister species of Th. palliatum from Langbian Plateau in southern Vietnam.
Highlights
Rhacophoridae is a diverse family of largely arboreal tree frogs consisting of 414 currently recognized species in 18 genera (AmphibiaWeb, 2018; Che & Wang, 2016; Frost, 2018)
The maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) phylogenetic analyses resulted in essentially similar topologies
The BI cladogram topology was consistent with results reported in previous work (Nguyen et al, 2015; Sivongxay et al, 2016), suggesting monophyly of the clade joining Nyctixalus and Theloderma and monophyly of Theloderma, though only with moderate support (0.90/85)
Summary
Rhacophoridae is a diverse family of largely arboreal tree frogs consisting of 414 currently recognized species in 18 genera (AmphibiaWeb, 2018; Che & Wang, 2016; Frost, 2018). The taxonomic position of Th. andersoni (Ahl, 1927) is relatively unclear, with Hou et al (2017) suggesting that this species might be a member of the genus Raorchestes Biju, Shouche, Dubois, Dutta & Bossuyt, 2010. Taking these reassignments and new species descriptions into consideration, a total of 25 species of Theloderma are recognized and distributed throughout Southeast Asia, from Assam in northeastern India to Myanmar, southern China and Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra and Borneo of the Greater Sunda Islands. New species in the genus continue to be discovered, with 13 described in the last 15 years alone (Frost, 2018)
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