A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from southern Guangxi, China.

This study describes a new member of the genus Leptobrachella, Leptobrachella shangsiensis sp. nov., based on morphological, acoustic and molecular analyses from southern Guangxi, China. L. shangsiensis sp. nov. differs from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) SVL 24.9-29.4 mm in 11 males and 30.8-35.9 mm in 5 females, (2) black supratympanic fold with dark reddish rim, (3) ventrolateral glands distinct, forming a broken line, (4) ventral surface yellowish creamy-white with marble texture, (5) iris copper in the upper and silver in the lower fifth and (6) toe webbing basal and narrow lateral fringes. The male advertisement call of L. shangsiensis sp. nov. consists of one note per call, lacking an introductory note, with a mean dominant frequency of 5.5-6.5 kHz at the ambient temperature of 21.5ºC. Uncorrected sequence divergences between L. shangsiensis sp. nov. and all homologous DNA sequences available for the 16S rRNA gene were found to be > 5.9%. L. shangsiensis sp. nov. occurs in an evergreen forest in Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve located at an elevation of 450-550 m.

Rediscovery of Rhacophorus yaoshanensis and Theloderma kwangsiensis at their type localities after five decades.

Rhacophorus yaoshanensis Liu Hu, 1962 and Theloderma kwangsiensis Liu Hu, 1962 were described by Liu Hu (1962) based on two specimens and one specimen, respectively, from the Dayaoshan Ranges, Guangxi, China. Since these two species were described, no additional specimens have been collected from their type localities, presenting an issue for phylogenetic studies of the genera. Five decades later, we have rediscovered R. yaoshanensis and T. kwangsiensis from their type localities. In this paper, we re-describe the two species and conduct a preliminary assessment of their phylogenetic relationships using two mitochondrial DNA genes (12S and 16S rRNA). The results indicate with high support that R. yaoshanensis is closely related to Rhacophorus pinglongensis. Theloderma kwangsiensis is nested within Theloderma corticale, with only 0.0-0.6% pairwise divergence, a level typical of intraspecific variation. Based on both molecular and morphological analyses, we further confirm that T. kwangsiensis is a synonym of T. corticale. Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi Province, China, is a new record for T. corticale.

A new species of Kaloula (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from southern Guangxi, China.

A new species of narrow-mouthed frog of Kaloula is described in the Nonggang National Nature Reserve, Sino-Vietnamese border region of southern China. Kaloula nonggangensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: medium size (SVL 41.4-52.7 mm in 18 adult males, 52.2 mm in 1 female); smooth or slightly rough olive dorsum with irregular dark-green marks and brown spots; tips of the fingers widely dilated and truncated; males with nearly fully webbed toes; males with two side protuberant osseous tubercles on the upper surface of the tips of fingers and chest beige with small lemon-colored spots. K. nonggangensis sp. nov. is found in habitats ranging from cultivated fields adjacent to the forest to primary evergreen forest in karst habitats. Based upon a 16S ribosomal RNA mitochondrial gene fragment, K. nonggangensis sp. nov. is embedded within the K. verrucosa group (including K borealis, K. rugifera and K. verrucosa), and displays a low genetic distance to these species (< 3%). Considering the distinct morphology and karyotype we nevertheless suggest a status as separate species for these allopatrically distributed lineages.

Insight into the validity of Leptobrachium guangxiense (Anura: Megophryidae): evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequences and morphological characters.

Lepobrachiun guangxiense Fei, Mo, Ye and Jiang, 2009 (Anura: Megophryidae), is presently thought to be endemic to Shangsi, Guangxi Province, China. A molecular phylogenetic analysis and morphological data were performed to gain insight into the phylogenetic position of this species. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods were employed to reconstruct phylogenetic relationship, using 1914 bp of sequences from mtDNA genes of 12S rRNA, tRNAVal and 16S rRNA. Topologies revealed that L. guangxiense and Tam Dao (Vietnam) L. chapaense lineage (3A) formed a monophyletic group with well-supported values. The uncorrected p-distance of ~1.4k bp 16S rRNA data-sets between Tam Dao L. chapaense lineage (3A) and L. guangxiense is only 0.1%. Morphologically, L. guangxiense and Tam Dao L. chapaense lineage (3A) shared the same characters, and are distinguishable from "true" L. chapaense from the type locality in Sa Pa, Vietnam. Based on morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA, we suggested that the Tam Dao lineages of L. chapaense are conspecific with L. guangxiense. This represents a range extension for L. guangxiense, and a new country record for Vietnam.

A new species of the genus Gracixalus (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Southern Guangxi, China.

A new species of the genus Gracixalus is described from Nonggang National Nature Reserve, based on eleven specimens from evergreen karst forests in Sino-Vietnamese border region of southern China. The new species, Gracixalus nonggan-gensis sp. nov., is medium sized species of Gracixalus that can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: SVL ranging from 29.9-35.3 mm in males and 33.6-38.0 mm in females; vomerine teeth absent; distinct tympanum as wide as the disc of finger III; the lower part of the tympanum with many small tubercles; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the tip of the snout; dorsum smooth yellowish-olive in life with a wide, dark-green irregular mark; throat, chest and belly white with light grey-blue tint and brown marbling; broad, dark olive, transverse stripes on limbs; finger webbing absent, toes one-third webbed; male with internal subgular vocal sac. Based on a 16S ribosomal RNA mitochondrial gene fragment, G. nonggangensis sp. nov. forms a monophyletic group embedded within the genus Gracixalus.