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A New Frog of the Genus Oreolalax (Pelobatidae) from Sichuan, China
Author(s): Guan-Fu Wu, Er-Mi Zhao, Robert F. Inger, H. Bradley Shaffer
Source: Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Dec., 1993), pp. 410-413
Published by: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1564828
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410
F. MENDOZA Q. AND H. M. SMITH
an eponym honoring Laurence M. Hardy, whose
numerous reviews of the members of the genus
Ficimiahave established him as the ultimate authority on its systematics, and have so importantly facilitated the understanding and study
of that genus by others.
Acknowledgments.-We
are much indebted
to
Dr. William M. Lewis, Chairman of EPO Biology at the University of Colorado, for facilities
for study; to Dr. Shi-Kuei Wu, Curator of Zoology at the University of Colorado Museum,
for the privilege of studying comparative material; to Biol. Mario Mancilla M. and Carlos
Camacho Alberto for assistance in the field; and
to Dr. Oscar Flores Villela for constructive comments on the manuscript.
LITERATURE
CITED
DELTORO,M. 1982. Los reptiles de Chiapas.
ALVAREZ
Tercera edici6n, corregida y aumentada. Tuxtla
Guti&rrez,Chiapas, Mexico, Inst. Historia Natural.
248 pp.
GONGORA
A., E. 1987. Etnozoologia Lacandona: la
herpetofauna de La Canja-Chansayab. Inst. Nac.
Inv. Rec. Biot., Cuad. Divulg. (31):1-31.
HARDY,L. M. 1975. A systematic revision of the
colubrid snake genus Ficimia.J. Herpetol. 9:133168.
1976. Ficimiastreckeri.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
181:1-2.
1978. Ficimiaolivacea.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
219:1-2.
. 1979. Ficimiaramirezi.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
228:1.
1980a. Ficimiaruspator.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
243:1.
.1980b. Ficimiapublia.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
254:1-2.
1980c. Ficimiavariegata.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept.
269:1-2.
- . 1990. Ficimia.Cat. Am. Amph. Rept. 471:1-5.
J.D. 1989. A biogeographicanalysisof the
JOHNSON,
herpetofauna of northwestern nuclear Central
America. Milwaukee Public Mus. Contr. Biol. Geol.
76:1-66.
LEE, J. C. 1980. An ecogeographic analysis of the
herpetofauna of the Yucatan peninsula. Misc. Publ.
Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas 67:1-75.
MENDOZAQ., F. 1990. Estudio herpetofaunistico en
el transecto Zacualtipan-Zoquizoquipan-San Juan
Metztitlan, Hidalgo. Tlalnepantla, Mexico (estado), Mexico, Esc. Nac. Est. Prof. Iztacala, UNAM.
Tesis Profesional, 97 pp.
PEREZ-H., G., ANDH. M. SMITH. 1990. The endemic
coral snakes of the Los Tuxtlas region, southern
Veracruz, Mexico. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 26:
5-13.
Accepted: 16 July 1993.
Journalof Herpetology,Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 410-413, 1993
Copyright 1993 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
A New Frog of the Genus Oreolalax(Pelobatidae)from Sichuan, China
GUAN-FU Wu,1 ER-MI ZHAO,1 ROBERTF. INGER,2AND H. BRADLEYSHAFFER3
'ChengduInstitute of Biology, Chengdu,Sichuan,PRC,
2FieldMuseum of Natural History, Chicago,Illinois 60605, USA, and
3Universityof Californiaat Davis, Davis, California95616, USA
-A new species of Oreolalaxis described from southwestern Sichuan, China. The species is
ABSTRACT.
distinguished from its many congenersin Sichuan by its small size (males = 50 mm SVL),smooth dorsum,
and its black-spottedbody. Unlike all other congeners,tadpoles of the new form have black spots on the
body and tail.
A remarkably large number of species of pelobatid frogs are known from Sichuan Province,
China, including 10 species of the genus Oreolalax (Zhao and Shi, 1982). Larval forms have been
positively associated with all of these species
(Liu and Hu, 1960, 1961; Liu et al., 1979; Fei and
Ye, 1984). During the course of field work in
1987 at Washan, Sichuan, we found three spe-
cies of Oreolalax. Two of these (0. omeimontis
and 0. popei) were found both as larvae and
adults (Inger et al., 1990). The third was represented by several large larvae, which differed
from any others previously known. In May,
1990, one of us (Wu) collected 54 tadpoles of
the same unknown form at Mt. Emei, Sichuan
Province, only 40 km from Washan. Two adult
411
NEW PELOBATID FROG
males and two egg masses were collected at the
same time. The adults confirm that a new species is represented, which we describe here as
Oreolalax multipunctatus,sp. nov.
Figs. 1-2
Holotype.-Chengdu Institute of Biology (CIB)
WA9001, an adult male, collected at Mt. Emei,
Sichuan Province, China, altitude 1800 m, on
26 May 1990, by Guan-Fu Wu.
Paratype.-CIB WA9002, an adult male collected with the holotype.
Diagnosis.-A small species of Oreolalax (SVL
47.5 mm), differing from its congeners in having a nearly smooth dorsum densely covered
with round black spots. Tadpoles differ from all
others known in having black spots on body
and tail.
Description (of both specimens).-Body stocky,
as wide as head; head longer than broad; snout
rounded in dorsal view, projecting slightly beyond the lower jaw; canthus rostralis obtuse;
loreal region oblique and slightly concave; interorbital space flat, broader than width of upper eyelid; tympanum hidden; tongue free behind and deeply notched; upper maxillary teeth
strong; no vomerine teeth.
Forelimb slender; arm plus hand about half
length of body; fingers slender, without fringes,
order of length 3 > 4 > 2 > 1; subarticular
tubercles compressed; inner and outer metacarpal tubercles rounded, almost equal. Hindlimb 1.6 times body length, heels overlap when
legs are flexed at right angles to the body, tibiotarsal articulation reaching posterior border of
eye; toes (Fig. 2C) slender and long; first toe
half webbed, one and one-half phalanges free;
second toe webbed to just beyond subarticular
tubercle on outer side, one and one-half phalanges free; third toe webbed on outer side to
just beyond basal subarticular tubercle, leaving
almost three phalanges free; fourth toe webbed
to just beyond basal tubercle, four phalanges
free; fifth toe webbed to basal tubercle, two and
one-half phalanges free; all toes with narrow
fringes of skin; subarticular tubercles compressed; inner metatarsal tubercle elliptical and
slightly compressed; no outer metatarsal tubercle. All digits with whitish, rounded tips.
Skin nearly smooth; back and dorso-lateral
areas with small, weak, widely scattered warts;
a thin, curved glandular fold from eye to insertion of arm; ventral surfaces smooth; axilla
and rear of thigh with a glandular light spot.
Color in life dorsally yellowish brown with
many, evenly scattered black spots; a faint triangular spot between eyes; sides of body lighter
than back and with black spots decreasing in
size ventrally; dorsal surface of limbs with ir-
r
WI
FIG.1. Holotype of Oreolalaxmultipunctatus,sp. nov.
Snout-vent length 47.5 mm.
regular dark markings; venter grayish; without
spots; throat marbled with dark gray.
Males with two obliquely elongated patches
of black conical spines on chest (Fig. 2A); inner
dorsal side of first two fingers (Fig. 2B) with
large, black nuptial spines in three longitudinal
rows, spines about twice the size of pectoral
spines; edges of both jaws with small black
spines; no vocal sacs. Measurements (in mm) of
holotype, paratype: snout-vent length 47.5,47.5;
head length 18.0, 17.5; head width 17.0, 16.2;
length of snout 8.6, 8.6; interorbital width 4.4,
4.5; width of upper eyelid 3.8, 4.2; length of
hindlimb 77.0, 77.0; length of tibia 22.7, 22.4;
length of foot and tarsus 24.8, 24.4.
Tadpoles.-CIB WA9003, Field Museum of
Natural History 248831-35. Collection of the
only unknown larval form of Oreolalaxfrom the
Mt. Emei region with the only unknown species
of adult from the same area is the basis of association of these larvae with multipunctatus.
Larvae differing from these distinctively marked
tadpoles have long been associated with the
other four previously known species from Mt.
Emei on the basis of complete developmental
series. With five species of the genus now reported from this small geographic region, the
probability that an additional, undiscovered
species of Oreolalaxwill be associated with these
larvae seems small.
Headbody ovoidal, slightly flattened above;
snout broadly rounded; eyes dorsolateral; interorbital more than twice diameter of eye; external naris closer to tip of snout than to eye,
two or three small projections from dorsal part
of raised rim; internarial width narrower than
interorbital. Spiracle wide, pointing upward and
backward, opening midway between eye and
end of body.
G.-F. WU ET AL.
412
I
B
.
I
C
FIG. 2. (A) Ventral surface of Oreolalax multipunctatus. Bar equals 10 mm. (B) Dorsal view of lower arm
and hand. (C) Ventral view of foot. Bar between B
and C equals 5 mm.
Oral disc ventral subterminal; lips completely
fringed with short, thick papillae, papillae with
melanophores on bases or extending to tips;
median gap in papillae of upper lip about twice
width of papillae flanking gap; usually two rows
of compressed inframarginal papillae on lower
lip beginning near ends of first two divided
rows of labial teeth; most of inframarginals
bearing small labial teeth. Labial teeth (system
of Altig, 1970) in stage 25 (Gosner, 1960) 6(26)/6(1-5), in stages 27-30 7(2-7)/6(1-5) or rarely
7(2-7)/7(1-6), in stages 31-41 7(2-7)/7(1-6). Jaw
sheaths heavy, fully pigmented, coarsely serrated, upper with a median convexity. Tail lanceolate, tapering to a rounded tip; heavily mus-
cular; fins low, neither as deep as caudal muscle
until distal fourth.
Color in life yellowish brown with many unequal-sized black spots dorsally on body and on
tail muscle and fins.
Headbody lengths (in mm) in stage 25 16.320.1, in stages 27-30 22.8-27.7, in stages 31-41
25.4-29.1; tail lengths (in same stage sequence)
24.3-33.0, 38.4-44.0, 32.8-57.7.
Eggs.-Two egg masses, CIB WA9004, were
found attached to the underside of a submerged
rock accompanied by one of the males. Clutch
size is 81 and 85. The eggs are creamy white
and average about 3.5 mm in diameter.
Comparisons.-The new species occurs in the
same area of Sichuan Province with 0. schmidti
(Liu), O. major(Liu and Hu), 0. omeimontis(Liu
and Hu), and 0. popei (Liu). Males of 0. multipunctatusdiffer from those of the first three species in having large but relatively few pectoral
spines (ca. 100 per cluster). Pectoral spines in
schmidti,omeimontis,and majorare small and numerous (>200 per cluster); in the first two, pectoral spines are an order of magnitude smaller
than those in the nuptial pad, the difference
between the two sets being much greater than
in multipunctatus.Males of 0. multipunctatusare
similar in size to those of schmidtiand omeimontis, but, in addition to the pectoral spines, differ
from the last two in having distinct webbing at
the base of the toes (Fig. 2C). Oreolalax multipunctatusresembles majorand popeiin the spotting, but is much smaller (SVL of males of major
59-71 mm, of popei 60-70 mm), and lacks the
dorsal tubercles found in those species (Liu and
Hu, 1960). Oreolalaxmajorhas much smaller and
more nuptial spines (ca. >200) on the first two
fingers than multipunctatus,as well more and
smaller pectoral spines. Other species from Sichuan similar to multipunctatusin size of adult
males include xiangchengensisFei and Huang,
rugosus(Liu), lichuanensisHu and Fei, pingi (Liu),
Tian (1983). None of these have
and chuanbeiensis
larvae with black spotted bodies like those of
multipunctatus.Adults of the first two are not
spotted and have strong warts or spines dorsally
(Liu, 1950; Liu et al., 1979; Fei and Huang, 1983).
Unlike multipunctatus,lichuanensishas a visible
tympanum and large tubercles on the back (Liu
et al., 1979). Oreolalax rugosusand chuanbeiensis
also have conspicuous warts on the back and
further differ from multipunctatusin having a
nuptial pad consisting of more than 100 small
spines. Oreolalaxpingi has a nuptial pad like that
of rugosus.Differences among adults of all these
species are summarized in the following key.
1A. Dorsum with round black spots ..........
B. Dorsum without black spots .............
2A. Toes one-third to one-half webbed .......
2
9
3
NEW PELOBATID FROG
B. Toes without webbing or webbed only at
base ...................................
6
3A. Nuptial pad with more than 100 spines in a
cluster on the first finger ................
4
B. Nuptial pad with less than 20 large spines
arranged in distinct rows ..... multipunctatus
4A. No tympanum or columella auris; hind limb
without regular crossbars ...........
rugosus
B. Tympanum present, though usually hidden;
hind limb with regular crossbars ........
5
5A. Hind limb with 4-6 fine, narrow dark crossbars ...........................
chuanbeiensis
B. Hind limb with 3-5 wide, dark crossbars major
6A. Back relatively smooth, at most a few weak
warts .............................
pingi
B. Back with many large tubercles and warts
7
7A. Dorsal skin in males flaccid and thrown into
folds; strong black spines on rear of upper
arm ........................
. lichuanensis
B. Dorsal skin of males not as above; no black
8
spines on rear of upper arm .............
8A. Nuptial pad of male with fewer than 20
...........
spines on first finger ......
popei
B. Nuptial pad with more than 100 spines on
first finger ......................
omeimontis
9A. 'oes almost completely webbed ........
..............................
xianchengensis
B. Toes at most half webbed ...............
10
10A. Tympanum distinct ............
rhodostigmata
B. Tympanum hidden .................
schmidti
Descriptions
and a key to tadpoles of these spe-
cies will appear in a subsequent paper.
Acknowledgments.-We express our thanks to
the people of the village of Bin Ling for much
help and many kindnesses and to Tan An-Ming,
Chengdu Institute of Biology, who participated
energetically in the field work. This project received support from the National Science Foun-
413
dation, the National Geographic Society, and
the Marshall Field III Fund of Field Museum of
Natural History.
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China. Science Press, Beijing. [Chinese text]
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Accepted: 19 July 1993.