A new species ofLeptobrachium(Anura, Megophryidae) from western Thailand

Abstract

We describe a new species of the genus Leptobrachium from the Khao Laem Mountain, Suan Phung District, Ratchaburi Province, Tenasserim Region, western Thailand, based on molecular and morphological evidences. The new species, Leptobrachium tenasserimense sp. nov., can be distinguished from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) adult SVL of 41.4–58.8 mm in males and 54.7–58.6 mm in females; (2) rounded finger and toe tips; (3) relative finger lengths: II<IV<I<III; relative toe lengths: I<II<V<III<IV; (4) toe webbing thick and well developed; (5) inner metatarsal tubercle small; (6) iris bicolored, black ventrally and turquoise dorsally, with light blue sclera; (7) dorsum brown to grey with distinct darker markings edged with brown; (8) belly and limbs ventrally whitish with contrasting confluent black reticulations; (9) tympanum mostly free of dark marking; (10) narrow dark canthal stripe present; (11) lateral row of dark spots absent; (12) limbs dorsally with distinct dark bars; tibia with four to five dark transverse bars; (13) dense dark reticulation or large dark blotch at groin continuing to ventral and posterior sides of thighs; (14) femoral gland in shape of large white blotch; (15) males with single vocal sac, mature males lack lip spinules. Our study provides further evidence for a hidden biodiversity of montane areas of Tenasserim Region on the border of Thailand and Myanmar.

The taxonomy and phylogeny of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group (Squamata: Gekkonidae) with emphasis on C. interdigitalis and C. ngati

“…This pattern of upland endemism is common across many Thai species of amphibians and reptiles (e.g. Matsui 2006;Connette et al 2017;Sumontha et al 2012Sumontha et al , 2017Wilkinson et al 2012;Grismer et al 2017;2020b;Matsui et al 2018;Pawangkhanant et al 2018;Lee et al 2019;Chomdej et al 2021 and references therein) and will become even more common as fieldwork continues in these sky-island regions. As climate change continues to have a significant negative impact on range-restricted upland species of amphibians and reptiles world-wide (see Sinervo et al 2010;Grant et al 2020 and references therein), it is paramount that field work in these hyper-biodiverse regions of Indochina and Southeast Asia remains an active endeavor and that the publication of new results not be delayed.…”

Another new species of karst-associated pitviper (Serpentes, Viperidae: Trimeresurus) from the Isthmus of Kra, Peninsular Thailand

“…Both species occur in the Thai-Malay Peninsula which suggests that the area around the Isthmus of Kra likely played an important role in the differentiation of the T. kanburiensis and T. macrops species complexes. The importance of the Isthmus of Kra as an area of herpetofaunal turnover was demonstrated in numerous recent publications; this narrow zone likely shaped radiation in many groups of reptiles (e.g., Chomdej et al 2021;Grismer et al 2020aGrismer et al , 2020bGrismer et al , 2022Poyarkov et al 2019Poyarkov et al , 2022Poyarkov et al , 2023 and amphibians (e.g., Chen et al 2018;Gorin et al 2020;Matsui et al 2005;Pawangkhanant et al 2018;Poyarkov et al 2020Poyarkov et al , 2021Suwannapoom et al 2018Suwannapoom et al , 2020Suwannapoom et al , 2021Suwannapoom et al , 2022 inhabiting Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the new species is also separated from its congeners by a significant divergence in cyt b gene sequences (with p = 4.1-14.0%), which is slightly higher than the genetic distances between many other recognized species of the subgenus Trimeresurus (Table 2).…”

Hidden tribe: A new species of Stream Toad of the genus Ansonia Stoliczka, 1870 (Anura: Bufonidae) from the poorly explored mountainous borderlands of western Thailand

“…The northern Tenasserim Mountain region is nota ble for the recent discoveries of endemic amphibians and reptiles (Matsui 2006;Sumontha et al 2012Sumontha et al , 2017Wilkinson et al 2012;Connette et al 2017;Grismer et al 2016Grismer et al , 2020aGrismer et al , 2020bGrismer et al , 2020cMatsui et al 2018;Pawangkhanant et al 2018;Suwannapoom et al 2018;Lee et al 2019;Chomdej et al 2020Chomdej et al , 2021Poyarkov et al, 2020). The mountains of northern Tenasserim are recognized as one of multiple local centers of amphib ian diversity and endemism in Indochina .…”