Annual Review: Taxonomic Changes and Novelties of Herpetofauna from China in 2016
Kai WANG 1, Hongman CHEN 2
1 Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
2 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
In 2016, there are 12 new species of amphibians and four species of reptiles discovered from China. Most new species were discovered in Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. In addition, new records of one family, one subfamily, one genus, and four species of amphibians and reptiles were reported in China at the first time.
Until the end of 2016, a total of 450 species of amphibians and about 475 species of reptiles were recorded from China (AmphibiaChina, 2017 www.amphibiachina.org; Cai et al., 2015; Wang & Jiang 2016).
New Species of Amphibians
Pachytriton wuguanfui Yuan, Zhang, Che, 2016 (from Hunan and Guangxi) 【Reference 23】
Photo by Zhiyong YUAN
Paramesotriton aurantius Yuan, Wu, Zhou, Che, 2016 (from Fujian) 【Reference 22】
Nasutixalus medogensis Jiang, Wang, Yan, Che, 2016 (from Tibet Autonomous Region) 【Reference 7】
Photo by Ke JIANG
Kurixalus berylliniris Wu, Huang, Tsai, Li, Jhang, and Wu, 2016 (from Taiwan)【Reference 18】
Photo by Nikolay A. Poyarkov
Kurixalus wangi Wu, Huang, Tsai, Li, Jhang, Wu, 2016 (from Taiwan) 【Reference 18】
Photo from Wu et al. (2016) 【Reference 18】
Rhacophorus pinglongensis Mo, Chen, Liao, Zhou, 2016 (from Guangxi) 【Reference 10】
Photo from Mo et al., 2016 【Reference 10】
Amolops nyingchiensis Jiang, Wang, Xie, Jiang, Che, 2016 (from Tibet Autonomous Region) 【Reference 4】
Photo by Ke JIANG
Amolops albispinus Sung, Wang, Wang, 2016 (from Guangdong) 【Reference 12】
Photo by Yingyong WANG
Limnonectes longchuanensis Suwannapoom, Yuan, Sullivan, McLeod, 2016 (from Yunnan) 【Reference 13】
Photo by Kai WANG
Scutiger spinosus Jiang, Wang, Li, Che, 2016 (from Tibet Autonomus Region)【Reference 5】
Photo by Kai WANG
Leptolalax tengchongensis Yang, Wang, Chen, Rao, 2016 (from Yunnan) 【Reference 21】
Photo by Jianhuan YANG
Leptobrachium tengchongense Yang, Wang, Chan, 2016 (from Yunnan) 【Reference 20】
Photo by Jianhuan YANG
New Species of Reptiles
Japalura laeviventris Wang, Jiang, Siler, Che, 2016 (from Tibet Autonomous Region)【Reference 15】
Photo by Kai WANG
Japalura iadina Wang, Jiang, Siler, Che, 2016 (from Yunnan) 【Reference 15】
Photo by Kai WANG
Geckko guishanicus Lin, Yao, 2016 (from Taiwan) 【Reference 8】
Photo from Lin & Yao (2016) 【Reference 8】
Ptychozoon bannaense Wang, Wang, Liu, 2016 (from Yunnan) 【Reference 17】
Photo from Wang et al. (2016) 【Reference 17】
New Records of Herpetofauna of China
Odorrana yentuensis Tran, Orlov, Nguyen, 2008 (from southern Guangxi) 【Reference 9】
Photo by Yinyong WANG
Limnonectes taylori Matsui, Panha, Khonsue, Kuraishi, 2010 (from southern Yunnan) 【Reference 13】
Photo by Chatmongkon Suwannapoom
Nanorana rostandi (Dubois, 1974) (from southeastern Tibet）【Reference 6】
Photo by Kai WANG
Microhyla mukhlesuri Hasan, Islam, Kuramoto, Kurabayashi Sumida, 2014 (from southern Yunnan)【Reference 24】
Photo by Zhiyong YUAN
Taxonomic Changes of Chinese Amphibians
The family Ceratobatrachidae Boulenger, 1884 was recorded from China at the first time. This finding expands the distribution of this frog to Himalayan region. Presently, three Chinese species are well supported to be members of this family, including Liurana medogensis Fei, Ye, Huang 1997, Liurana xizangensis (Hu, 1977), and Liurana alpina Huang, Ye, 1997. Liurana reticulata (Zhao, Li, 2017) is also placed in this family, although its taxonomic status and phylogenetic position needs further investigation.【Reference 19】
A new treefrog genus, Nasutixalus Jiang, Yan, Wang, Che, 2016, was described from southern Tibet, China. The genus currently contains two species, with its type species Nasutixalus medogensis Jiang, Wang, Yan, Che, 2016 found in Medog, southern Tibet, China.【Reference 7】
Atympanophrys Tian and Hu, 1983 and Xenophrys Günther, 1864 was resurrected from synonyms of Megophrys, which the former now consists of four species, including Atympanophrys gigantica (Liu, Hu, and Yang, 1960), Atympanophrys nankiangensis (Liu and Hu, 1966), Atympanophrys shapingensis (Liu, 1950), and Atympanophrys wawuensis (Fei, Jiang, and Zheng, 2001); and the latter genus Xenophrys now consists of 31 species. The genus Megophrys sensu lato does not occur in China【Reference 2】
Taxonomic Changes of Chinese Reptiles
Ptychozoon Kuhl, van Hasselt, 1822 was recorded from southern Yunnan Province at the first time, representing a new gecko genus of China 【Reference 17】
The Vietnamese population of Shinisaurus crocodilurus was described as a unique subspecies, which left the Chinese population as S. c. crocodilurus Ahl, 1930【Reference 14】
Two subspecies of Gloydius were elevated to full species status, which are G. cognatus (Gloyd, 1977) and G. stejnegerti (Rendahl, 1933). The previous records of G. intermedius in China actually represent a species complex consisting G. halys (Pallas, 1776), G. cognatus, and G. stejnegerti. Gloydius saxatilis is considered as junior synonym of G. intermedius【Reference 11】
Snakes of the genera Ahaetulla, Chrysopelea, and Dendrelaphis are placed in the new subfamily Ahaetuliinae Figueroa, McKelvy, Grismer, Bell, Lailvaux, 2016. 【Reference 3】
Gloydius halys halys, from Heilongjiang, photo by Jingsong SHI
Gloydius stejnegeri, from Shanxi, photo by Jingsong SHI
Gloydius cognatus, from Inner Mongolia, by Jingsong SHI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank Mr. Ke JIANG, Mr. Jingsong SHI, and Dr. Jing CHE for providing comments and help revising the article, and we thank all photo contributors for their great photos.
Please cite this paper as:
Kai WANG, Hongman CHEN, 2017. Annual Review: Taxonomic Changes and Novelties of Herpetofauna from China in 2016. Published online at AmphibiaChina (www. Amphibiachina.org). 【PDF】
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