#amolops

Hong Kong Cascade Frog or Hong Kong Torrent Frog (Amolops hongkongensis), family Ranidae, Hong Kong

ENDANGERED.

Eggs are laid on rock faces in the splash zones of cascades

Chinese Sucker Frog aka Chinese Torrent Frog (Amolops ricketti), family Ranidae, China

A new species of the genus Amolops (Anura, Ranidae) from the Gaoligong Mountains, China

Yun-He Wu, Zhong-Bin Yu, Felista Kasyoka Kilunda, Chen-Qi Lu, Jia-Hua Li, Yun-Peng Li, Yi-Juan Shi, Jing Che

Abstract

The Gaoligong Mountains lie at the intersection of three global biodiversity hotspots. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of fieldwork in the region, studies have increasingly indicated that the amphibian diversity of this region remains poorly understood. During herpetological surveys in 2023, a series of Amolops specimens were collected from the Gaoligong Mountains of Yunnan Province, China. The integrated results of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate the presence of a separate and previously unknown lineage in the A. viridimaculatus group, which we herein confirm as a new species, Amolops gudao Yu, Wu, Lu & Che, sp. nov. Our discovery increases the number of Amolops species recorded in China to 59, and the total number of Amolops species to 86. The discovery of a new species in the Gaoligong Mountains further highlights the underestimated amphibian diversity in the region, emphasizing the need for continued fieldwork and research. Furthermore, Amolops gudao Yu, Wu, Lu & Che, sp. nov. exhibits obvious intraspecific variation in color patterns, a phenomenon also reported in several species within the  A. viridimaculatus group, such as A. viridimaculatus and A. kaulbacki. Future studies on the taxonomy of A. viridimaculatus group should be careful with the use of color patterns as a diagnostic characteristic.

Read the paper here:

Dafang Cascade Frog (Amolops dafangensis), family Ranidae, found in Dafang County, Guizhou Province, China

Newly described (2024).

These frogs are found in mountainous streams filled with moss covered rocks.

Males do not have vocal sacs.

Cascade Frog (Amolops ottorum), family Ranidae, NW Viet Nam

Described in 2019.