Rudimentary Webbing Research Articles

A new Leptobrachella species (Anura, Megophryidae) from South China, with comments on the taxonomic status of L. chishuiensis and L. purpurus

A new species of Leaf Litter Toad,Leptobrachella shimentainasp. nov., is described from the Shimentai and Luokeng nature reserves of northern Guangdong Province, southern China. The new taxon can be distinguished from all recognized congeners by a combination of discrete morphological character state differences relating to its small body size (SVL 26.4–28.9 mm in six adult males, 30.1 and 30.7 mm in two adult females); a number of apparently fixed color pattern character differences (including eye coloration and color pattern features from dorsal, ventral, and dorsolateral surfaces of its head, body, limbs, and ventrum); the morphological and discrete characteristics of the external phenotype (the skin texture of dorsum and ventrum, the presence of supra-axillary and ventrolateral glands, the wide dermal fringes and rudimentary webbing on toes, and the uninterrupted longitudinal ridges under toes). Two samples of this new species previously were proposed as representing a new, unnamed species. We now substantiate this claim by providing diagnostic comparisons of discrete character differences. In addition, we also discuss taxonomic uncertainty surrounding the identity of two congeners,L. chishuiensisandL. purpurus, which we interpret as indicative of taxonomic inflation in the species-rich subfamily Megophryidae.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Rain Water Puddles in Nicobar Islands of India Reveal Abundance of a New Frog Species of the Genus Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Microhylidae).

Recent studies on frogs of the Microhyla heymonsi species complex have demonstrated that high genetic variation exists among its various known populations from regions across Asia. We assessed the taxonomic identity of the Nicobar population of Microhyla cf. heymonsi and compared it to the typical Microhyla heymonsi from Taiwan and the two recently described species in this complex from Vietnam. Our study demonstrates that the Nicobar population is both genetically and morphologically divergent and warrants recognition as a new species, which we formally describe here as Microhyla nakkavaram sp. nov. The new species is closely related to M. daklakensis, M. heymonsi, and M. ninhthuanensis, but diagnosable from all three species by a suite of morphological characters, such as the presence of two small tubercles at mid-dorsum along with ( )-shaped markings, length of finger I longer than half the length of finger II, presence of three distinct metacarpal tubercles on hand, rudimentary foot webbing, as well as its slender body shape, granular dorsal skin texture, and other colour characters and body markings. Statistical analyses based on multiple morphometric characters also clearly separate our new taxon from M. heymonsi, with which it was previously confused. Our phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA locus find Microhyla nakkavaram sp. nov. to be nested in the Microhyla achatina species group, where it is delimited as a distinct species. This lineage shows genetic distances of ≥ 3.5% from all the other known congeners. Currently, the known distribution of the new taxon is restricted to the southernmost group of Nicobar Islands-Great Nicobar, Kondul, and Little Nicobar-where it is found in abundance across a wide range of habitats during the monsoon season. Our study underlines the need to reassess the identity of all the known populations of M. 'heymonsi' from other regions in Southeast and East Asia. To facilitate future taxonomic work in the light of our and other recent findings, we also provide a detailed redescription and revised diagnosis for M. heymonsi based on morphological examination of its century-old type material originating from Taiwan.

Description of a new toad of Megophrys Kuhl amp; Van Hasselt, 1822 (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from western Yunnan Province, China.

A new species of genus Megophrys from Gaoligong Mountains, Yunnan Province, China is described. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA all clustered the new species as an independent clade nested into the subgenus Panophrys. The smallest genetic distance based on 16S rRNA gene between the new species and its congeners was 3.0%. The new species could be identified from its congeners by a combination of following characters: moderate body size (SVL 31.0-34.8 mm in males); vomerine ridge weak, vomerine teeth absent; dorsal skin relatively smooth; tongue slightly notched behind; tympanum rounded and relatively large, 0.54 times of eye length; a horn-like tubercle on edge of each upper eyelid small; tibio-tarsal articulation reaches middle eye when leg stretched forward; finger tips rounded, not expanded to small pad; toes with narrow fringes and rudimentary webbing; ventral hindlimbs semitransparent purplish with greyish white pigments; ventral body scattered with distinct dark patches in the middle.

A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) Smith, 1925 from Wuling Mountains in Hunan Province, China.

A new species of Leptobrachella, Leptobrachella wulingensis sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected from the Wuling mountains in Hunan Province, China. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of having a SVL body size range of 24.5-32.8 mm in four adult males and 29.9-38.5 mm in three adult females; dorsal surface brown to reddish brown with indistinct markings; ventral surface creamy white, often with pale brown speckling on chest and margins; flanks with small to moderate black spots; skin on dorsum shagreened with sparse large warts, sometimes with short longitudinal ridges; toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes; dermal ridges under toes interrupted at the articulations; and iris bicolored with a bright orange or golden upper half, fading to silver in the lower half. Uncorrected sequence divergence between L. wulingensis sp. nov. and homologous 16S rRNA sequences available for all known species in the genus are ≥ 2.3%-2.9%.

Mechanized relational verification of concurrent programs with continuations

Concurrent higher-order imperative programming languages with continuations are very flexible and allow for the implementation of sophisticated programming patterns. For instance, it is well known that continuations can be used to implement cooperative concurrency. Continuations can also simplify web server implementations. This, in particular, helps simplify keeping track of the state of server’s clients. However, such advanced programming languages are very challenging to reason about. One of the main challenges in reasoning about programs in the presence of continuations is due to the fact that the non-local flow of control breaks the bind rule, one of the important modular reasoning principles of Hoare logic. In this paper we present the first completely formalized tool for interactive mechanized relational verification of programs written in a concurrent higher-order imperative programming language with continuations (call/cc and throw). We develop novel logical relations which can be used to give mechanized proofs of relational properties. In particular, we prove correctness of an implementation of cooperative concurrency with continuations. In addition, we show that that a rudimentary web server implemented using the continuation-based pattern is contextually equivalent to one implemented without the continuation-based pattern. We introduce context-local reasoning principles for our calculus which allows us to regain modular reasoning principles for the fragment of the language without non-local control flow. These novel reasoning principles can be used in tandem with our (non-context-local) Hoare logic for reasoning about programs that do feature non-local control flow. Indeed, we use the combination of context-local and non-context-local reasoning to simplify reasoning about the examples.

A new species of the genus Microhyla (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from Guizhou Province, China.

A new species of the microhylid frog genus Microhyla is described from the Fanjing Mountain of Guizhou Province, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the the mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and COI genes supported the new species as an independent lineage, closely related to M. beilunensis, M. mixtura and M. okinavensis. The uncorrected genetic distance on 16S rRNA gene between the new species and its closest congeners M. beilunensis, M. mixtura and M. okinavensis are 3.5%, 4.6% and 4.6% respectively. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: (1) body of medium size (SVL 19.0-22.7 mm in males and 22.5-23.0 mm in females); (2) disk and dorsal median longitudinal groove on finger tips absent; (3) toe with rudimentary webbing at base; (4) disk with dorsal median longitudinal groove present at toe tips except for the toe I; (5) two metatarsal tubercles on palm; (6) tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level between eye to nostril when leg stretched forward; (7) a distinct V-shaped white stripe on the upper midsection. The new species is known only from the type locality, and thus the finding of it has contributed to the endemic species diversity of China. It is needed to take strategy to protect the species and habitats due to the increased threats of environmental changes.

A new species of the genus Leptolalax (Anura, Megophryidae) from Hunan, China.

A new species, Leptolalax mangshanensis sp. nov., is described from the Mangshan National Nature Reserve, in Hunan Province, China. The new species is genetically similar to Leptolalax liui, and morphologically similar to Leptolalax maoershanensis. Morphological characteristics that distinguish the new species from its congeners are a small body size (snout-vent length, SVL, 22.2 mm-27.8 mm in 27 adult males, and 30.2 mm in one adult female); nearly smooth dorsal skin with some small, orange, tubercles and irregular, dark brown stripes, throat and belly scattered with white speckles, weak lateral fringes on toes and rudimentary toe webbing; indistinct longitudinal ridges under toes, and not interrupted at the articulations, iris bicolored with bright orange in the upper half and greyish cream in the lower half. The new species is widely distributed in montane evergreen secondary forests and small bamboo forests in Mangshan Nature Reserve, at altitudes between 500-1600 m a.s.l.

A new species of Kurixalus from western Yunnan, China (Anura, Rhacophoridae).

A new species of the genus Kurixalus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) is described from western Yunnan, China. Genetically the new species, Kurixalus yangi sp. n., is closer to Kurixalus naso than to other known congeners. Morphologically the new species is distinguished from all other known congeners by a combination of the following characters: smaller ratios of head, snout, limbs, IND, and UEW to body size; male body size larger than 30 mm; curved canthus rostralis; weak nuptial pad; brown dorsal color; absence of large dark spots on surface of upper-middle abdomen; presence of vomerine teeth; gold brown iris; single internal vocal sac; serrated dermal fringes along outer edge of limbs; granular throat and chest; rudimentary web between fingers; and presence of supernumerary tubercles and outer metacarpal tubercle.

A new species of Puddle Frog, genus Phrynobatrachus (Amphibia: Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) from Ghana.

We describe a new species of Phrynobatrachus from the eastern part of the Upper Guinea forest region, Ghana, West Africa. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from all of its congeners by the combination of a slender body, short and pointed snout, a relatively warty dorsum, a black-spotted throat in both sexes, a gular flap in males, a dark spotted chest, a white-greyish venter with occasional blackish spots, rudimentary pedal webbing, none to slightly dilated finger tips and strongly delated toe tips, presence of both inner and outer metatarsal tubercles and absence of a dark face mask, eyelid tubercles and longer dorsal ridges. We collected mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data from the 16S rRNA gene to measure the genetic diversity of the new species, and to estimate phylogenetic relationships. The new species is a distinct and monophyletic evolutionary lineage most closely related to Phrynobatrachus gutturosus, P. fraterculus and P. maculiventris. The discovery of this new species highlights that the biodiversity of West African forests is still incompletely known and that the few remaining forests need urgent protection.

Paradigmatic Shifts in Jihadism in Cyberspace: The Emerging Role of Unaffiliated Sympathizers in Islamic State’s Social Media Strategy

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of the concept of jihadism as it presently exists in cyberspace. From its roots during the Chechen conflict to the current use of social media by the Islamic State (IS), this paper identifies and examines three highly significant paradigm shifts: (1) the emergence of rudimentary Web 2.0 platforms and jihadist forums; (2) the advent of advanced Web 2.0 and social media platforms as methods of spreading jihadism; and (3) turn towards ‘lone wolf’ terrorism. In this paper, the author argues that IS’ extensive reliance on unaffiliated sympathizers, who either re-tweet or re-post content produced and authorized by the IS leadership can be seen as a groundbreaking paradigm shift in the evolution of jihadism in cyberspace. Furthermore, it is also argued that IS’ strategy of empowering of unaffiliated sympathizers represents a further development in the evolution of jihadism in cyberspace and can best be understood as an attempt to normalize and legitimize IS’ existence through its efforts to dominate the ‘IS narrative’ across social media platforms.

<p><strong>A new species of <em>Leptolalax</em> (Anura: Megophryidae) from Vietnam and Cambodia</strong></p>

We describe a new, medium-sized Leptolalax species from the Kon Tum Plateau of Vietnam and adjacent Cambodia. Leptolalax isos sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of an absence of distinct dark brown/black dorsolateral markings; toes with rudimentary webbing, wide lateral dermal fringes in males and weak or absent lateral dermal fringes in females; most males with wide lateral dermal fringes on Finger II, a body size of 23.7-27.9 mm in 38 adult males and 28.6-31.5 mm in 9 adult females, near immaculate white chest and belly; absence of white speckling on the dorsum; and a call consisting of 2-3 notes with a dominant frequency of 5.9-6.2 kHz (at 22.4-22.8º C). Uncorrected sequence divergences between L. isos sp. nov. and all homologous 16S rRNA sequences available are >10%. At present, the new species is known from montane evergreen forest between ~650-1100 m elevation in northeastern Cambodia and central Vietnam. Habitat within the range of the new species is threatened by deforestation and upstream hydroelectric dams.

A new species of Microhyla (Anura: Microhylidae) from Nilphamari, Bangladesh.

A new species of Microhyla frog from the Nilphamari district of Bangladesh is described and compared with its morphologically similar and geographically proximate congeners. Molecular phylogeny derived from mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed that although the new species – designated here as Microhyla nilphamariensis sp. nov. – forms a clade with M. ornate, it is highly divergent from M. ornata and all of its congeners, with 5.7 – 13.2% sequence divergence at the 16S rRNA gene. The new species can be identified phenotypically on the basis of a set of diagnostic (both qualitative and quantitative) characters as follows: head length is 77% of head width, distance from front of eyes to the nostril is roughly six times greater than nostril–snout length, internarial distance is roughly five times greater than nostril–snout length, interorbital distance is two times greater than internarial distance, and distance from back of mandible to back of the eye is 15% of head length. Furthermore, inner metacarpal tubercle is small and ovoid-shaped, whereas outer metacarpal tubercle is very small and rounded. Toes have rudimentary webbing, digital discs are absent, inner metatarsal tubercle is small and round, outer metatarsal tubercle is ovoid-shaped, minute, and indistinct.

A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from the highest mountain in Indochina.

We describe a new species of Leptolalax from northern Vietnam. Leptolalax botsfordi sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of (1) supra-axillary and ventrolateral glands present; (2) dark brownish red ventral surface with white speckling; (3) medium body size for the genus (29.1-32.6 mm in 7 adult males, 30.0-31.8 mm in 2 females); (4) black markings on the flanks absent; (5) toes with rudimentary webbing and weak lateral fringing; (6) large pectoral glands (1.1-1.9 mm; 4-6% SVL) and femoral glands (2.4-4.3 mm; 7-14% SVL); and (7) an advertisement call with a dominant frequency of 2.6-3.2 kHz (at 14.0º C). At present, the new species is known only from upper montane forest between 2,795-2,815 m elevation on Mount Fansipan, Hoang Lien National Park. To our knowledge, Leptolalax botsfordi sp. nov. occurs at higher elevations than any other species in the genus. If L. botsfordi sp. nov. is truly restricted to a narrow, high-elevation band, it is likely to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The new species also faces the immediate threat of habitat degradation and pollution due to tourist activity.

A New Diagnosis and Description ofAnomaloglossus roraima(La Marca, 1998) (Anura: Aromobatidae: Anomaloglossinae), with Description of Its Tadpole and Call

Abstract. The frog Anomaloglossus roraima was originally described as Colostethus roraima by E. La Marca in 1998 on the basis of a single immature female collected at 2700 m elevation on the upper slopes of Mount Roraima, a tepui (table mountain) located in southeastern Venezuela. We herein provide a redescription of the species on the basis of new material from Wei-Assipu-tepui and Maringma-tepui in Guyana. The redescription includes the first descriptions of the tadpole and vocalization. Anomaloglossus roraima is a small-sized species mainly distinguished from its known congeners in having Finger I < II; fingers with narrow pre- and postaxial unfolded fringes; toes unwebbed (although rudimentary webbing is sometimes present between Toe III and IV) with narrow pre- and postaxial unfolded fringes; symmetrical cloacal tubercles present; dorsolateral stripe usually present, often inconspicuous; ventrolateral stripe absent; oblique lateral stripe absent; no obvious sexual dichromatism in throat, chest and ve...

A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from central Vietnam

We describe a new species of Leptolalax from central Vietnam. Leptolalax firthi sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners bya combination of the following characters: an absence of distinct dark brown or black dorsolateral markings; toes with rudimen-tary webbing and wide lateral dermal fringes in males and weak or absent lateral dermal fringes in females; most males withwide lateral dermal fringes on Finger II; medium size (26.4–29.2 mm in 21 adult males, 25.7–36.9 mm in 14 females); and nearimmaculate white chest and belly. The male advertisement call of the new species, consisting of 2–5 notes with a dominant fre-quency of 5.4–6.6 kHz (at 18.3–21.2º C) is also unique among Leptolalax species for which calls are known. Uncorrectedsequence divergences between L. firthi and all homologous 16S rRNA sequences available were &gt;10%. At present, the newspecies is known from montane evergreen forest between ~860–1720 m elevation in Kon Tum and Quang Nam Provinces. Theextreme sexual dimorphism observed in L. firthi in terms of lateral dermal fringing, a morphological character often used to dis-tinguish Leptolalax species, highlights the importance of ensuring interspecific comparisons in the genus are performed separately for each sex.

A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from Laos

We describe a new species of megophryid frog in the genus Leptolalax from southern Laos. Leptolalax aereus sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of size (25.1–28.9 mm in 28 adult males, 27.1–38.6 mm in 12 adult females), absence of distinct black or dark brown dorsolateral markings on head, near immaculate white chest and belly, head length greater than head width, no webbing or lateral fringing on fingers, rudimentary webbing between toes I–IV and no webbing between toes IV–V, toes with weak lateral fringing, and a call consisting of an average of 3–4 notes containing 1–2 pulses, and with a dominant frequency of 6187.5–7875 Hz. The new species is associated with rocky streams in semi-evergreen and evergreen forest between 284–511 m elevation.

A new species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from Vietnam and further information on Leptolalax tuberosus

We describe a new species of megophryid frog from central Vietnam. Leptolalax croceus sp. nov. is most similar to L. tuberosus, but distinguished from this and all other Leptolalax species by its bright orange belly in life and by its unique, complex advertisement call consisting of 4–6 variably pulsed notes with a dominant frequency of 2635–3000 Hz. In contrast, L. tuberosus has an advertisement call consisting of a single, weakly pulsed note lasting 54–78 ms with a dominant frequency of 2584–2756.2 Hz. Leptolalax croceus sp. nov. can be further distinguished from its congeners by a combination of an indistinct tympanum, highly tuberculate dorsum, medium body size (22.2–27.3 mm in 16 adult males), head slightly wider than long, rudimentary webbing between toes I–III, no webbing between toes III–V, no lateral fringing on toes, and no ventrolateral glands. The new species is only known from a single locality in evergreen forest at 1316 m elevation. Males were found calling from leaf litter and low vegetation adjacent to a shallow, rocky stream. We suggest the species should be considered Data Deficient following IUCN’s Red List categories.

Ectopic dermal ridge configurations on the interdigital webbings and postaxial marginal portion of the hindlimb in Hammertoe mutant mice (Hm)

The effects of the hereditary malformation of Hammertoe mutant mice (gene symbol Hm) on the digital pads and dermal ridge configurations on their hindlimbs were examined. In the wild-type (+/+) mice with normally separated digits, dermal ridges developed only on the pads. Heterozygous (Hm/+) and homozygous (Hm/Hm) mutant mice, however, had a broad big toe, fused interdigital soft tissues, reduced claws, an extra rudimentary postaxial digit and camptodactyly. The dermal ridges appeared not only on the pads, affected in their number and configurations, but also on the ventral surface of the interdigital webbings and postaxial marginal area exhibiting an extra rudimentary digit and webbing. These aberrant configurations may be related to the abnormal occurrence of programmed cell death (PCD) in the interdigital zones and the postaxial marginal portion in Hm/+ and Hm/Hm mice. That is, the diminished cell death may fail to decrease the cell density in the interdigital zones and postaxial marginal portion and result in the webbing and an extra rudimentary digit and webbing, respectively. Simultaneously, it could also interrupt the migration of surviving cells of these areas toward the neighboring digits and the distal area of the sole and produce the ectopic dermal ridges on the way to the as yet unformed (presumptive) digital and plantar volar pads. The present findings suggest that normal interdigital and pre/postaxial PCD contributes not only to the separation of digits, the initial formation of individual digits of different sizes, and the inhibition of the extra digit but also to the development of the presumptive digital and plantar pads, including dermal ridges.

A new species of Phrynobatrachus (Amphibia: Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) from north-western Guinea, West Africa

A new small Phrynobatrachus species from a gallery forest in north-western Guinea is described. Phrynobatrachus pintoi sp. nov. exhibits a combination of unique morphological characters and a distinctive color pattern, including: compact, oval body, short snout, warty dorsum and eyelid (although no eyelid cornicle is present), three pairs of large symmetric black spots on throat and breast, black spots on belly, more than one black bar on thighs and lower leg, finger and toe tips not expanded, and rudimentary web on foot. Furthermore, analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 16S rRNA reveals that this new species differs from other West African species of the genus by a minimum distance of 7%. Genetically the new species is closest to Phrynobatrachus fraterculus, P. cornutus, and P. gutturosus.

A new, toxic species of Colostethus (Anura: Dendrobatidae: Colostethinae) from the Cordillera Central of Colombia

A new species of Colostethus is described from cloud forest in the Cordillera Central of Colombia at approximately 2100–2500 m above sea level. It is a riparian species not known to occur more than a few meters from the water’s edge. Specimens were collected in grassy vegetation and on and beneath rocks along streams and pools, in both primary forest and in or at the edge of forest clearings. Most specimens were collected during the day, but several were observed to be active at night. The new species differs from other species of Colostethus in lacking pale oblique lateral and ventrolateral stripes, possessing a pale dorsolateral stripe, lacking or having at most rudimentary toe webbing, and possessing a marbled or reticulated ventral color pattern. Adult males of the new species possess a swollen third finger and a gray or black throat. In life, the new species possesses bright lemonor golden-yellow flash marks on the axilla, groin, belly, and concealed surfaces of the thigh and shank, and bluish-white ventral coloration, and it exudes a milky secretion from the skin. The aqueous extract of the skin is toxic, but additional samples are required to determine the nature of the toxic compound(s).