Vietnam discovered three new species of tree frog

The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said that the Institute’s scientists, in collaboration with Russian and German scientists, have discovered and described three new species of tree frog in Lao Cai and Ha Giang.

Office tree frog Rhacophorus vanbanicus in the wild. The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said that the Institute’s scientists, in collaboration with Russian and German scientists, have discovered and described three new species of tree frog in Lao Cai and Ha Giang. Based on analysis of morphology, molecular genetics and bio-sound, a team of researchers from the Vietnam Museum of Nature, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and Researchers from the Serbian Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences and the scientists of Cologne Zoo, Germany have discovered and described three new species of tree frogs including Rhacophorus vanbanicus, Zhangixalus franki and Zhangixalus jodiae. The table frog species Rhacophorus vanbanicus Kropachev, Orlov, Ninh, and Nguyen, 2019 Named after the standard sampling site in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, Vietnam at an altitude of 900m, with evergreen forest habitat on high humidity rocky mountains with frequent fog and drizzle. The table frog frog features a brown back with two green stripes on the back from the back of the eye to the groin and forms a green triangle at the top, the underside of the thighs yellow-orange with 5-7 characteristic black nodules. This species is of medium size with an adult male body length of about 34.8 mm, head width less than head length. This finding is published in specialized journals Russian Journal of Herpetology. Zhangixalus jodiae in nature (A & B), and front and hind limbs (C & D). Goat tree frog species Zhangixalus jodiae Nguyen, Ninh, Orlov, Nguyen, and Ziegler, 2020 Named after Dr. Jodi Rowley – The Australian Museum for her outstanding contributions to the study of amphibian classification in Asia. This species was found in Quan Ba ​​district, Ha Giang province. In terms of morphology, the new species has an average body length in the range of 36.1-39.8 mm, the width and length of the head are equivalent, the tip of the snout is round, with the teeth of the cane leaves; front and hind limbs have swimming membranes; blotchy green back, cream-colored armpits with large black spots, groin and anterior-posterior part of thigh with alternating black and orange spots. Genetically, the new species is on the same branch as Z. nigropunctautus, Z. yaoshanensis, Z. pinglongensis and Z. chenfui. Z. jodiae had the closest genetic distance to Z. pinglongensis was 3.57%. Biological tones were recorded at 17.3-20.9 degrees Celsius with each vocal lasting 1.1 seconds and consisted of six notes, each note about 6 milliseconds, the distance between two notes about 15 milliseconds. . The dominant frequency is 2.0kHz. The notes of a voice have variable amplitude, with the last note having the smallest amplitude relative to the other notes. The discovery of this new species of frog was published in the journal Journal of Natural History. Standard specimen of Zhangixalus franki (A & B) and a drawing of anterior and posterior swimming membrane (C). Species Frank tree frog – Zhangixalus franki Ninh, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen, and Ziegler, 2020 named after the late German professor, doctor, veterinarian and amphibian conservationist Frank Mutschmann in honor and recognition of his support in amphibian research and conservation projects. residing in Vietnam. The new species can be distinguished from other species in the Zhangixalus genus based on a combination of the following characteristics: large body (from 77.9-85.8 mm in males), a blue dorsal surface with spots small dark brown, with white stripes separating the upper face and lower face of the body, developed parotid glands. This species was found at an altitude of 1,300 m in Quan Ba ​​district, Ha Giang province. The typical habitat is tropical evergreen forest on the mountains. Genetically, the new species in the same branch is most closely related to the Z. duboisi species, the genetic distance between the two species is about 2.51%. Findings about this species were published in the journal European Journal of Taxonomy.