Gracixalus yunnanensis Yu, Li, Wang, Rao, Wu & Yang, 2019

Lorphengsy, Sengvilay, Nguyen, Tan Van, Poyarkov, Nikolay A., Wu, Yun-He, Pawangkhanant, Parinya, Passorn, Supaporn, Che, Jing & Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon, 2021, First national record of Gracixalus quangi Rowley, Dau, Nguyen, Cao & Nguyen, 2011 and G. yunnanensis Yu, Li, Wang, Rao, Wu & Yang, 2019 (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Thailand, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 67667-67667 : 67667

Gracixalus yunnanensis Yu, Li, Wang, Rao, Wu & Yang, 2019

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: AUP-01984 ; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Gracixalus yunnanensis; class: Amphibia ; order: Anura ; family: Rhacophoridae ; genus: Gracixalus ; specificEpithet: yunnanensis; scientificNameAuthorship: Yu , Li , Wang , Rao , Wu & Yang, 2019; Location : country: Thailand; countryCode: TL; stateProvince: Nan; municipality: Amphoe Pua ; locality: Doi Phu Kha NP., near Phu Kha Village ; verbatimElevation: 1678; verbatimLatitude: 19 º 10.40 N; verbatimLongitude: 101 º 06.44 E; verbatimCoordinateSystem: WGS84; Event: eventDate: 9November 2019; eventRemarks: collected by C. Suwannapoom, P. Pawangkhanant and S. Lorphengsy; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: AUP-01985; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Gracixalus yunnanensis; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specimen; dynamicProperties: collection date, collector and location as the AUP-01984 Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: AUP-01986; individualCount: 1; sex: fmale; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Gracixalus yunnanensis; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specimen; dynamicProperties: collection date, collector and location as the AUP-01984 Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: AUP-01987; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Gracixalus yunnanensis; Record Level: basisOfRecord: preserved specimen; dynamicProperties: collection date, collector and location as the AUP-01984

Description

Morphological characteristics of specimens (n = 4) collected from Nan Province agreed with the description of Yu et al. (2019), body size small (SVL 32.3-38.0 mm) in males (n = 3), 39.3 mm in female specimens (n = 1), other relevant data measurements of all specimens are presented in Table 2 . Head wider than long, snout rounded and projecting slightly beyond the margin of the lower jaw in ventral view, canthus rostralis rounded, loreal region oblique, slightly concave, nostrils oval, protuberant and closer to tip of snout than eye, interorbital distance wider than internarial distance and upper eyelid, pupil oval, horizontal, pineal ocellus absent, tympanum distinct, round, supratympanic fold distinct, vomerine teeth absent, tongue notched posteriorly, external subgular vocal sac. Fore limb relatively robust, tips of all fingers expanded into discs with circummarginal grooves, relative length of fingers I <II<IV <III, webbing between fingers rudimentary, subarticular tubercles prominent, rounded, formula 1, 1, 2, 2 supernumerary tubercles present, inner metacarpal tubercle present, outer metacarpal tubercle present, nuptial pads present on finger I. Hind limbs: relative length of toes I <II<III<V<IV, tips of toes expanded into discs with circum-marginal grooves, discs of toes smaller than those of fingers, webbing between toes less developed, subarticular tubercles distinct, formula 1, 1, 2, 3, 2 supernumerary tubercles present, inner metatarsal tubercle present, outer metatarsal tubercle absent, heels overlapping when legs at right angle to body. Skin: dorsal surface scattered with many small conical tubercles on head, upper eyelids and dorsum, flanks of body and dorsal surface of limbs smooth, few small conical tubercles on hindlimbs and forearms, throat, chest, belly and ventre of thigh granulated, few small conical tubercles scattered on ventre of thigh, tibia and forearm.

Colouration in life. Dorsal surface brown with a dark brownish area running across and covering the interorbital area, small dark brown spots on upper eyelid and across the back forming an interrupted marking with a Y-shaped mark on the back starting between the eyes and covering most of head, black eyelids appear pale (Fig. 4 A-B). Throat and chest mostly yellowish, ventral surface of throat, chest and anterior belly opaque white, sides of head faint brown, diffused dark brown line under canthus rostralis from eyes to nostrils, no obvious tympanic markings, upper arms and thighs brownish clear, four toes and groin appear bright orange (Fig. 4 ), toes brown and transparent. The skin on the back of the arms and legs is dark brown. Surface of limbs, including hands and feet, appear pinkish brown (diurnally) or pink (nocturnally).

Remarks. The specimens of G. yunnanensis obtained from Nan Province, Thailand differed from those listed in the original description of the specimens collected from Yunnan Province, China ( Yu et al. 2019) by having a slightly larger body size in males (32.3-38.0 vs. 26.0-34.2 mm).

Revised diagnosis. SVL 26.0-38.0 mm in male specimens, 39.3 mm in female specimens, distinctive conical asperities on dorsum, snout rounded, no dermal projection, tibiotarsal projection absent, iris bronze, lack of white patch on temporal region, males having an external subgular vocal sac, nuptial pads in finger I and linea masculine, lacking dermal spines on upper eyelids, absent serrated dermal fringes on limbs, tibiotarsal articulation reaching central eye, dorsal surface yellow-brown or red-brown, ventre surface orangish with yellow spots, semi-transparent, finger webbing rudimentary, toe webbing formula: I1.5-2II1.5-2.7III.5-3IV2.5-1.5V (Table 2 ).

Distribution

This species was previously known from the western part of the Red River located in south-western China (in Xuelin, Fudong, Fazhanhe, Bada and Jinping townships and near Mt. Huanglian in southern Yunnan), northern Laos (Houaphan Province) and northern Vietnam (Lao Cai and Pu Mat NP in Nghe An) ( Yu et al. 2019). This is the first record of this species from Thailand and represents the most southwest distributional limits of this species.

Ecology

An individual specimen was observed at night between 22:00 to 24:00 h sitting on the branch of a shrub that was about 1-2 m off the ground in an evergreen forest surrounded by trees near a stream with nearby herbaceous plants. Other amphibian species found in the sympatric area included Nanorana aenea (Smith), Megophrys sp., Kurixalus cf. verrucosu (Boulenger), Theloderma albopunctatum (Liu & Hu) and T. gordoni Taylor (Fig. 3 B)

Figures

Figure 3. Habitat of G. quangi (A) and G. yunnanensis (B) located in Doi Phu Kha NP., Nan Province, Thailand. Photos by P. Pawangkhanant.

Figure 4. Male of G. yunnanensis (AUP- 1985) in life. A. Lateral view; B. Dorsal view; C. Volar view of the left hand; D. Plantar view of the right foot. Photo by P. Pawangkhanant.