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Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 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 Accessed: 31/08/2010 18:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://links.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://links.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ssar. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Herpetology. http://links.jstor.org 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. LITERATURE CITED ALTIG,R. 1970. A key to the tadpoles of the continental United States and Canada. Herpetologica 26:180-207. FEI,L., AND Y.-Z. HUANG. 1983. A new species of pelobatid toad from western Sichuan. Acta Herpetologica Sinica 2:71-75. [Chinese text] ,AND C.-Y. YE. 1984. Ecological studies of the pelobatid toad, Oreolalax puxiongensis. Acta Zool. Sinica 30:270-277. [Chinese text] GOSNER,K. L. 1960. A simplified table for staging anuran embryos and larvae with notes on identification. Herpetologica 16:183-190. R. F., E.-M. ZHAO,H. B. SHAFFER, ANDG.-F. WU. INGER, 1990. Report on a collection of amphibians and reptiles from Sichuan, China. Fieldiana: Zool. 58: 1-24. LIu, C.-C. 1950. Amphibians of western China. Fieldiana: Zool. Mem. 2:1-400. ,AND S.-C. HU. 1960. New Scutigersfrom China with a discussion about the genus. Scientia Sinica 9:760-780. . 1961. Tailless amphibians of , AND China. Science Press, Beijing. [Chinese text] , ANDL. FEI. 1979. Five new pelobatid toads from China. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 4:8392. [Chinese text] TIAN, W.-S. 1983. A new species of Oreolalax-O. chuanbeiensis.Acta Herpetologica Sinica 2:59-62. [Chinese text] ZHAO,E.-M., AND B.-N. SHI. 1982. Sichuan Fauna Economica. Vol. 1. [Chinese text] Accepted: 19 July 1993.