@article {58318, title = {A new species of cryptic Bush frog (Anura, Rhacophoridae, Raorchestes) from northeastern Bangladesh}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {927}, year = {2020}, month = {Apr-04-2021}, pages = {127 - 151}, abstract = {

Raorchestes is a speciose genus of bush frogs with high diversity occurring in the Western Ghats of In- dia. Relatively fewer species have been recorded across India, through Bangladesh, southern China, into Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia. Many bush frogs are morphologically cryptic and therefore remain undescribed. Here, a new species, Raorchestes rezakhani sp. nov., is described from northeastern Bangla- desh based on morphological characters, genetics, and bioacoustics. The 16S rRNA gene distinguished this species from 48 known species of this genus. Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood analyses indicated that the new species was most similar to R. tuberohumerus, a species found in the Western Ghats, and to R. gryllus, a species found in Vietnam. Bioacoustics indicated that their calls were similar in pattern to most Raorchestes species, although number of pulses, duration of pulses, pulse intervals and amplitude differentiated it from a few other species. It is suggested that northeastern India, Bangladesh, northern Myanmar, and southern China represent important, relatively unexplored areas that could yield additional species of Raorchestes. Since many remaining habitat patches in Bangladesh are under severe threat from deforestation, efforts should be made to protect these last patches from further degradation.

}, keywords = {Amphibian, bush frog, DNA, herpetofauna, Raorchestes rezakhani sp. nov.}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.927.48733}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/48733/}, author = {Al-Razi, Hassan and Maria, Marjan and Muzaffar, Sabir Bin} } @article {57641, title = {A new species of Polypedates Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from West Bengal State, Eastern India}, year = {2019}, abstract = {

A new species of frog belonging to the genus Polypedates Tschudi is described from the state of West Bengal, Eastern India. A mid-sized frog, SVL ranges from 47.9\–53.6 mm in males and 72.0 mm in the single female. The species is diagnosable in showing the following suite of characters: digits lack webbing, inner and outer metacarpal tubercles present; no dermal fold on forearm; toes webbed, webbing formula I1\–1 II0.5\–2III1\–2IV2\–0.5V; an inner metatarsal tubercle present; tibio-tarsal articulation reaches between eye and nostril; and skin on forehead co-ossified to cranium. Additionally, males possess paired vocal sacs. The new species is compared with known species of the genus Polypedates.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4691.5.6}, author = {PURKAYASTHA, JAYADITYA and Madhurima Das and MONDAL, KINGSHUK and MITRA, SHIBAJEE and CHAUDHURI, ANIRBAN and DAS, INDRANEIL} } @article {57625, title = {Call Characteristics of Two Sympatric and Morphologically Similar Tree Frogs Species, Polypedates megacephalus and Polypedates mutus (Anura: Rhacophoridae), from Hainan, China}, year = {2018}, abstract = {

Anuran calls are usually species-specific and therefore valued as a tool for species identification. Call characteristics are a potential honest signal in sexual selection because they often reflect male body size. Polypedates megacephalus and P. mutus are two sympatric and morphologically similar tree frogs, but it remains unknown whether their calls are associated with body size. In this study, we compared call characteristics of these two species and investigated any potential relationships with body size. We found that P. megacephalus, males produced six call types which consisting of three distinct notes, while P. mutus males produced five types consisting of two types of notes. Dominant frequency, note duration, pulse duration, and call duration exhibited significant interspecific differences. In P. megacephalus, one note exhibited a dominant frequency that was negatively correlated with body mass, snout-vent length, head length, and head width. In P. mutus, the duration of one note type was positively correlated with body mass and head width. These differences in call characteristics may play an important role in interspecific recognition. Additionally, because interspecific acoustic variation reflects body size, calls may be relevant for sexual selection. Taken together, our results confirmed that calls are a valid tool for distinguishing between the two tree-frog species in the field.

}, keywords = {body size, call characteristics, Polypedates, sexual selection}, author = {Qiucheng LIU and Tongliang WANG and Xiaofei ZHAI and Jichao WANG} } @article {53421, title = {A test of the matched filter hypothesis in two sympatric frogs, Chiromantis doriae and Feihyla vittata}, journal = {Bioacoustics}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-06-2020}, pages = {1 - 15}, abstract = {

The matched filter hypothesis proposes that the auditory sensitivity of receivers should match the spectral energy distribution of the senders\’ signals. If so, receivers should be able to distinguish between species-specific and hetero-specific signals. We tested the matched filter hypothesis in two sympatric species, Chiromantis doriae and Feihyla vittata, whose calls exhibit similar frequency characters and that overlap in the breeding season and microenvironment. For both species, we recorded male calls and measured the auditory sensitivity of both sexes using the auditory brainstem response (ABR). We compared the auditory sensitivity with the spectral energy distribution of the calls of each species and found that (1) auditory sensitivity matched the signal spectrogram in C. doriae and F. vittata; (2) the concordance conformed better to the conspecific signal versus the hetero-specific signal. In addition, our results show that species differences are larger than sex differences for ABR audiograms.

}, keywords = {acoustic communication, auditory brainstem response, Chiromantis doriae, Feihyla vittata, interspecific interference, matched filter hypothesis}, issn = {0952-4622}, doi = {10.1080/09524622.2018.1482786}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09524622.2018.1482786https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09524622.2018.1482786}, author = {Yang, Yue and Zhu, Bicheng and Wang, Jichao and Brauth, Steven E. and Tang, Yezhong and Cui, Jianguo} } @article {53417, title = {Reproduction and metamorphosis in the Myristica Swamp tree frog, Mercurana myristicapalustris (Anura: Rhacophoridae)}, journal = {PeerJ}, volume = {6}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-01-2018}, pages = {e5934}, abstract = {

The reproductive biology of the Myristica Swamp tree frog (Mercurana myristicapalus- tris), a monotypic rhacophorid frog endemic to the foothills of the Western Ghats mountains of India, has remained unknown since the description of the genus and species. We monitored individuals from parental generation amplexus to the comple- tion of offspring generation tadpole metamorphosis. Surprisingly, our observations revealed that this species exhibits many previously unknown characteristics, including the first ever record of the female, and a diverse call repertoire, consisting of five different call types (the functions of which remain incompletely known). We were also able to determine that reproductive activity peaked during the late pre-monsoon season, that males engaged in intraspecific aggressive encounters to occupy and to defend desirable territories, and that oviposition took place in terrestrial nests made by females. Embryonic development in the unattended nest was followed by tadpole development, which concluded within 40 days. The specific breeding mode employed by Mercurana, which restricts its range to the endangered Myristica swamp ecosystem, likely renders it susceptible to multiple threats, which should be considered jointly in future conservation planning.

}, keywords = {Amphibia, Animal Behavior, Conservation biology, Developmental Biology, ecology, India, Myristica swamp, Reproductive mode, Rhacophoridae, zoology}, doi = {10.7717/peerj.5934}, url = {https://peerj.com/articles/5934}, author = {Abraham, Robin Kurian and Mathew, Jobin Kuruvilla and Raju, David Valiaparampil and Rao, Ramprasad and Zachariah, Anil} } @article {12299, title = {Some new frogs from Sarawak}, journal = {Amphibia-Reptilia}, volume = {4}, year = {1984}, pages = {103 - 115}, abstract = {

Four new frogs are described from the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: Ansonia torrentis and pelophryne api (Bufonidae), Kalophrynus nubicola (Microhylidae), and Rhacophorus kajau (Rhacophoridae).

}, issn = {0173-5373}, doi = {10.1163/156853883X00021}, url = {http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/10.1163/156853883x00021}, author = {Dring, Julian C.} }