Researchers cancel the distribution record of dwarf shrub tree frog in China

Reporter : Zhuang Beining / Publisher : Xinhua News Agency / http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2021/1/451911.shtm / Direct translation / Image courtesy : Getty Images

The reporter learned from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that scientific researchers have recently made progress on the classification of the genus Araliaceae in the border areas of Yunnan, and canceled the distribution record of the genus Arachnoides in my country. They discovered two new species of the genus Guanyin, Menghai and Huanglianshan. The research results were recently published in the academic journal "Asian Amphibians and Reptiles Research". In order to solve the problem of the classification of the genus Rana, the researcher team of Li Jiatang from the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences took the lead and cooperated with Honghe University, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units to classify and determine the species of the genus Rana in the border areas of Yunnan. During the field investigations from 2018 to 2019, the research team obtained more than 20 specimens of the genus Rana from Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, and more than 10 specimens of suspected new species from Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. After in-depth research, researchers have achieved a number of results: The dwarf shrub tree frog previously reported in my country is actually the Mengla shrub tree frog, and the distribution record of the dwarf shrub tree frog in my country should be cancelled; the classification of the Mengla shrub tree frog has been determined and supplemented. The specimen collected from Xiding Township, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, was published as a new species-Menghai shrub tree frog; the specimen collected from Huanglian Mountain in Luchun County, Honghe Prefecture was published as a new species-Huanglianshan shrub tree frog. These studies have laid the foundation for the follow-up research on the taxonomy of the genus Aralia in my country and adjacent areas. The scientific researcher told reporters: "The species of dwarf shrub tree frog was originally discovered in Myanmar. In recent years, it has been reported to be distributed in Menglun Town, Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan. Now we have discovered that this is a specimen identification error. Therefore, there is no dwarf shrub tree frog distribution in China." It is understood that the genus Shrub tree frog was established in 2010 and belongs to the tree frog family. The species of this genus is small in size, 15-45 mm in length, and often inhabits bushes. The reproduction method is direct development, that is, tadpoles are in eggs. Complete the metamorphosis process and directly hatch the baby frog. This genus contains 68 species, of which more than 80% are distributed in India, in addition to Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and China Yunnan and Tibet.