Rana caldwelli Schmidt, 1925

Chuaynkern, Yodchaiy, Ohler, Annemarie, Inthara, Chantip & Duengkae, Prateep, 2010, A Revision Of Species In The Subgenus Nidirana Dubois, 1992, With Special Attention To The Identity Of Specimens Allocated To Rana Adenopleura Boulenger, 1909, And Rana Chapaensis (Bourret, 1937) (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae) From Thailand And Laos, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 58 (2), pp. 291-310 : 303

Rana caldwelli Schmidt, 1925

Rana caldwelli Schmidt, 1925: 2 . [Holotype: AMNH 18454, by original designation. Type-locality: “ Fukien Province ” (probably near Yenping), China.]

Material examined. – China: Fujian Province, Ch’ungan Hsien (AMNH A 29992 –997, 30025–042), Yenping (AMNH A 28232– 236, 28238–241, 28244, 28527–529, 28531–536, 28538–539), no exactly locality (AMNH A 18572) . Sikang Province, Ta-liang-shan (FMNH 49464-466), Chaochiao (FMNH 49460, 49462).

Taxonomic notes. — Rana caldwelli was described by Schmidt (1925) based on two specimens from Fujian. He distinguished his new frog from R. adenopleura by their more projecting snouts, rougher skin and posteriorly broken up dorsolateral glandular folds. Pope (1931) compared Schmidt’s types with his new series of 98 specimens and showed that the characters separating R. caldwelli and R. adenopleura were not diagnostic and placed R. caldwelli in the synonymy of the original species R. adenopleura . This consideration was followed in subsequent works ( Liu, 1950; Chou, 1999). As results given above, the species Rana caldwelli is recognized as valid species as similar to Dubois (1992).

Diagnostic characters. – Rana caldwelli is characterized by the following combination of characters: (1) body elongated; (2) SVL of adult males 49 ± 3.2 (43.1–56.1 mm), adult females 51.6 ± 2.3 (47.7–55.4 mm); (3) nostril directed laterally; (4) marginal grooves on fingers present or absent; (5) marginal grooves on toes present; (6) mid-dorsal stripe present or absent; (7) external vocal sac present; (8) nuptial pad present on thumb and first finger, forming a single pad; (9) suprabrachial gland present and large; (10) nest construction behavior absent; (11) spinules on back present only on posterior half of back (in adult males); (12) spinules on ventrum present in adult males; (13) tibio-tarsal articulation reach snout tip; (14) finger tips dilated; (15) toe tips dilated; (16) relative length of fingers II<I<IV<III; (17) relative length of toes I<II<III=V<IV; (18) pigmented eggs; (19) larval keratodont formula 1:0+0/1+1:1; (20) Calling unknown.

Distribution. — China (Fujian and Sikang provinces).