Two novel genera and one new species of treefrog (Anura: Rhacophoridae) highlight cryptic diversity in the Western Ghats of India

Amphibian diversity in the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot is extremely high, especially for such a geo-graphically restricted area. Frogs in particular dominate these assemblages, and the family Rhacophoridae is chief among these, with hundreds of endemic species. These taxa continue to be described at a rapid pace, and several groups have recently been found to represent unique evolutionary clades at the genus level. Here, we report DNA sequences, larval and breeding data for two species of rhacophorid treefrog (Polypedates bijui and a new, hitherto undescribed species). Re-markably, they represent unique, independent clades which form successive sister groups to the Pseudophilautus (Sri Lan-ka) + Raorchestes (India, China & Indochina) clades. We place these species into two new genera (Beddomixalus gen. nov. and Mercurana gen. nov.). Both of these genera exhibit a distinct reproductive mode among Rhacophoridae of pen-insular India and Sri Lanka, with explosive breedi...

西高止山脉-斯里兰卡生物多样性热点地区的两栖动物多样性水平极高，对于这样一个地理范围受限的区域而言尤为突出。其中蛙类构成了该区域两栖动物群落的主体类群，而树蛙科（Rhacophoridae）更是其中的核心类群，包含数百个特有物种。此类群仍以极快的速度被新描述发表，近期多项研究发现其中多个类群属于独立的属级演化支。本研究报道了两种树蛙科树蛙的DNA序列、幼体及繁殖相关数据：分别是Bijui泛树蛙（Polypedates bijui）以及一个此前尚未被正式描述的新种。值得注意的是，二者分属独特且独立的演化支，分别构成了Pseudophilautus（斯里兰卡）+ Raorchestes（印度、中国及中南半岛）演化支的连续姊妹群。我们将这两个物种归入两个新属：Beddomixalus gen. nov.与Mercurana gen. nov.。这两个属在印度半岛及斯里兰卡的树蛙科类群中展现出独特的繁殖模式，即爆发式繁殖……