A New Species of the Genus Zhangixalus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam

  • Hoa Thi NINH Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Hanoi and Hanoi National University of Education, 136 Xuan Thuy Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi
  • Tao Thien NGUYEN Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Hanoi and Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi
  • Nikolai ORLOV Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg
  • Truong Quang NGUYEN Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Hanoi and Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi
  • Thomas ZIEGLER AG Zoologischer Garten Köln, Riehler Strasse 173, D-50735 Cologne and Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Strasse 47b, D-50674 Cologne
Keywords: New species, Zhangixalus franki sp. nov., molecular phylogeny, taxonomy, Vietnam

Abstract

We describe a new species of the genus Zhangixalus Li, Jiang, Ren & Jiang, 2019 from Ha Giang Province, Vietnam based on morphological and molecular data. In the molecular phylogenetic analyses, the new species is nested in the Zhangixalus duboisi (Ohler, Marquis, Swan & Grosjean, 2000) group, where it is sister to Z. duboisi with a genetic distance of 2.51%. The new species, Zhangixalus franki sp. nov., differs from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: size large, SVL 77.9–85.8 mm in males; finger webbing formula I1-1II0-1III½-0IV; dorsal surface of head and body green with dark brown spots; ventral surface grey or dark grey, white stripe along edge of jaw, insertion of limbs, and along lateral ridges of fore and hind limbs and flank, separating upper green part from lower grey part. The new species occurs in evergreen montane tropical forests at an elevation of ca 1300 m a.s.l. The new discovery brings the total number of known species in the genus Zhangixalus to 38 and the species number reported from Vietnam to nine.

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Published
2020-07-21
How to Cite
NINH, H. T., NGUYEN, T. T., ORLOV, N., NGUYEN, T. Q., & ZIEGLER, T. (2020). A New Species of the Genus Zhangixalus (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam. European Journal of Taxonomy, (688). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.688
Section
Zoology