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Background: Bufo rubroventromaculatus Orlov, Ananjeva, Ermakov, Lukonina, Ninh & Nguyen, 2024 is a species recently described from Vietnam. Currently, this species is known from central and northern Vietnam and it uncertain whether this species is distributed in China. In addition, the original description of this species is very brief. New information: Based on nine specimens collected from Yunnan Province and Guangxi Autonomous Region, China, we provide the first confirmed record of Bufo rubroventromaculatus from China. The morphological characteristics of the specimens from China mostly agree with the original description of B. rubroventromaculatus and, phylogenetically, the specimens from China clustered with the type series of B. rubroventromaculatus from Vietnam. We also provide a supplementary description of this species, based on the specimens we collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Based on the examination of specimens of Amolops minutus Orlov & Ho, 2007 and A. ottorum Pham, Sung, Pham, Le, Zieger & Nguyen, 2019, we found that there is no significant morphological difference between them. Phylogenetic analysis also showed that A. minutus and A. ottorum belong to the same taxon. In addition, we discovered the distribution of A. minutus in China. New information: In this study, we provide the first molecular data of Amolops minutus and regard A. ottorum as a junior synonym of A. minutus. In addition, we report the first record of A. minutus from China, based on nine specimens collected from Guanyinshan Provincial Nature Reserve in southern Yunnan Province and present an updated diagnosis of this species, based on literature data and newly-collected specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the genus Diploderma Hallowell, 1861 from Qiaojia County, Zhaotong City, northeastern Yunnan Province, China, is described. Phylogenetically, the new species is placed within the D. splendidum complex and has genetic distances of 7.3% and 7.5% from D. splendidum (Barbour & Dunn, 1919) sensu stricto and D. daduense Cai, Liu & Chang, 2024, respectively, based on the ND2 gene sequences. Morphologically, the new species closely resembles D. splendidum sensu stricto and D. daduense, however, it can be distinguished from D. splendidum sensu stricto by having a larger body size in males and relatively shorter limbs, and can be differentiated from D. daduense by having a relatively narrower head in males and relatively shorter forelimbs in males. In addition, the new species differs from D. splendidum sensu stricto and D. daduense by having different colorations, especially in the absence of transverse stripes on the dorsal head. This study further revealed that D. splendidum sensu lato is a complex containing multiple species and that more research is needed to clarify the taxonomy of the complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We described herein Zhangixalus yunnanensis sp. nov. , a new treefrog species from central and western Yunnan, China, which had previously been confused with Z. nigropunctatus, based on morphological and molecular evidence. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that the new species is sister to the clade of Z. nigropunctatus and Z. melanoleucus with strong support (100% and 73% for BI and ML , respectively). Our morphological analysis suggested that Z. yunnanensis sp. nov. is distinctly different from all known congeners by the combination of the following morphological characters: black blotches on body flank and hind-limb, medium body size (SVL31.3–36.0 mm in males and 47.6–48.6 mm in females), head wider than long, iris yellowish-brown, dorsum uniformly green, vocal sac external, throat black, webbing greyish and fingers webbed one third and toes webbed half. Additionally, we revealed that the specimens ROM 38011 (Sa Pa, Vietnam) and VNMN 4099 (Son La, Vietnam) are neither Z. dorsoviridis nor Z. nigropunctatus, but probably represent one or two cryptic species of Zhangixalus pending further morphological and molecular data. Including the new species described herein, the genus Zhangixalus currently comprises 42 species, 30 of which are distributed in China with 11 species known from Yunnan. Amongst different zoogeographic regions in Yunnan, south-eastern Yunnan has the highest diversity of Zhangixalus, followed by western Yunnan and southern Yunnan. More studies are required to clarify the species diversity of this genus based on multiple lines of evidence (e.g. morphological and molecular data). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]