Leptobrachium ailaonicum (Yang, Chen & Ma, 1983)

Pham, Anh Van, Pham, Cuong The, Doan, Lan Duc, Ziegler, Thomas & Nguyen, Truong Quang, 2019, New records of megophryids (Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from Son La Province, Vietnam, Biodiversity Data Journal 7, pp. 39140-39140 : 39140

Leptobrachium ailaonicum (Yang, Chen & Ma, 1983)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: TBU ML.2016.30 ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificNameID: Leptobrachiumailaonicum; scientificName: Leptobrachiumailaonicum; class: Amphibia; order: Anura; family: Megophryidae; genus: Leptobrachium; specificEpithet: ailaonicum; scientificNameAuthorship: (Yang, Chen & Ma, 1983); Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Son La; county: Muong La; municipality: Ngoc Chien; locality: Muong La Nature Reserve, near Nam Nghep Village ; verbatimElevation: 2010 m; verbatimLatitude: 21°19.66'N; verbatimLongitude: 103°36.26'E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS84; Event: eventDate: October 7, 2016; eventRemarks: collected by N.B. Sung and T.V. Dau; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibians; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: TBU SL.2016.513 ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificNameID: Leptobrachiumailaonicum; scientificName: Leptobrachiumailaonicum; class: Amphibia; order: Anura; family: Megophryidae; genus: Leptobrachium; specificEpithet: ailaonicum; scientificNameAuthorship: (Yang, Chen & Ma, 1983); Location: country: Vietnam; countryCode: VN; stateProvince: Son La; county: Muong La; municipality: Ngoc Chien; locality: Muong La Nature Reserve, near Nam Nghep Village ; verbatimElevation: 2011 m; verbatimLatitude: 21°19.66'N; verbatimLongitude: 103°36.26'E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS84; Event: eventDate: October 28, 2016; eventRemarks: collected by N.B. Sung and T.V. Dau; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Amphibians; basisOfRecord: Preserved Specimen

Description

Morphological characters of specimens (n = 2 males) from Son La Province agreed with the descriptions of Yang et al. (1983) and Ho et al. (1999): SVL 71.4-75.8 mm; head wider than long (HL 26.1-28.1 mm, HW 28.5-31.8 mm, HL/SVL 37%; HW/SVL 40.0-42.0%); snout round (SL 11.0-11.3 mm), longer than horizontal diameter of eye (EL 9.5-9.9 mm); canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region oblique, moderately concave; nostril lateral, closer to tip of snout than to eye (NS 4.8-4.9 mm, EN 5.2-5.5 mm); interorbital space flat, broader than upper eyelid and internarial distance (IOD 9.5-9.8 mm, UEW 7.3-7.4 mm, IN 5.0-5.2 mm); tympanum indistinct; vomerine teeth absent; tongue heart-shaped, notched posteriorly; vocal openings absent.

Forelimb long (FLL 58.0-62.8 mm); relative finger lengths II <I <IV <III; fingers without dermal fringe, free of webbing; tips of fingers rounded, slightly swollen; subarticular tubercle indistinct; palmar tubercles two, oval; nuptial pads absent.

Hindlimb slender, long (HLL 105.0-106.7 mm); thigh longer than tibia (FL 34.8-36.6, TL 31.3-34.0 mm); tips of toes slightly swollen; webbing formula I1 –2II1–21/2III2–3/1/2IV4– 2V; inner metatarsal tubercle distinct, shorter than length of toe I; tibiotarsal articulation reaching to posterior margin of orbit when limb adpressed along body.

Skin. Dorsal surface with fine network of ridges, tubercles present in the posterior region of tympanum; upper lip with 46-78 keratinised spines; supratympanic fold present, from posterior edge of eye to axilla; flanks, belly, chest, throat, underside of forelimbs and thighs with small white pustules.

Colouration in life. Dorsal surface of the head light brown or reddish-brown, with dark brown spots on medial side of upper eyelid; back with irregularly dark brown spots; ventral surface with light brown pustules, more concentrated in chest area ( Fig. 2 ).

Distribution

In Vietnam, this species was recorded from Lao Cai Province ( Nguyen et al. 2009). Our new record is approximately 70 km distant from Lao Cai Province. Elsewhere, this species is known from China ( Frost 2019).

Ecology

The specimens of L. ailaonicum were found on the edge of small streams and on forest paths between 20:00 and 21:00 h. The surrounding habitat was mixed secondary forest of large hardwood and shrub.

Taxon discussion

The male specimens from Son La have more keratinied spines than those in the previous studies: 46-78 versus 20-48 ( Yang et al. 1983) and 50-59 ( Ho et al. 1999).

Figures

Figure 2. Leptobrachium ailaonicum (TBU ML. 2017.9, adult male) from Son La Province, Vietnam. Photo by A. V. Pham.