Hemiphyllodactylus cf. yunnanensis (Boulenger, 1903)

Grismer, L. Lee, Neang, Thy, Chav, Thou, Wood, Perry L., Jr & Oaks, Jamie R., 2008, Additional Amphibians And Reptiles From The Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary In Northwestern Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia, With Comments On Their Taxonomy And The Discovery Of Three New Species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (1), pp. 161-175 : 169

Hemiphyllodactylus cf. yunnanensis (Boulenger, 1903)

( Fig. 13 )

Material examined. – LSUHC 8242 : Phnom Tumpor, Ou Kran stream (102º88.805'E 13º69.474'N, 1,100 m) 8 May 2006 .

Remarks. – A single adult female (SVL 43 mm) collected from Phnom Tumpor is placed in the genus Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 ( Smith, 1935; Taylor, 1963) in that it has weakly webbed digits; four, clawed, outer digits and a vestigial inner digit lacking a free, distal phalanx (and a claw); subdigital lamellae transversely expanded with the distal lamellae being divided medially; terminal phalanges short, arising from within the expanded section of the digit (absent on first digits) not the tip; dorsal scales small, granular, lacking tubercles; no cutaneous expansion along the side of the body; ventral scales larger, cycloid, smooth, imbricate; and pupil vertical. The specimen somewhat matches Talyor’s (1963) diagnosis of a Thai specimen except that the postmentals are distinctly enlarged vs. somewhat enlarged; having 10 as opposed to nine infralabials and nine as opposed to 10 infralabials; having large as opposed to small supranasals; having five as opposed to six or seven oblique, subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; and the first finger lacking as opposed to having a minute claw. Hemiphyllodactylus yunnanensis is extremely variable however in postmental and lamellar morphology (Kai-ya et al., 1981; Taylor, 1963). We examined 10 specimens (FMNH 7716–17, 14451–52, 180866–71) from China, Laos, and Thailand and noted significant variation in fourth toe lamellae number and morphology; presence or absence of claw on first toe; shape and size of the supranasal, mental, and postmentals, numbers of supralabials, and number of infralabials. Two of the main diagnostic characters for this species, number of preanal and femoral pores and size of the subcaudal scales could not be assessed being that LSUHC 8242 is a female with a regenerated tail. The specific identity is therefore tentative.

The specimen was found inside a tent in near a small stream in hill evergreen forest.

Figures

Fig. 13. Hemiphyllodactylus cf. yunnanensis from Phnom Tumpor. Photograph by JH.