An integrative approach to infer systematic relationships and define species groups in the shrub frog genus Raorchestes, with description of five new species from the Western Ghats, India

Vocal repertoire of Microhyla nilphamariensis from Delhi and comparison with closely related M. ornata populations from the western coast of India and Sri Lanka

Advertisement calls in frogs have evolved to be species-specific signals of recognition and are therefore considered an essential component of integrative taxonomic approaches to identify species and delineate their distribution range. The species rich genus Microhyla is a particularly challenging group for species identification, discovery and conservation management due to the small size, conserved morphology and wide distribution of its members, necessitating the need for a thorough description of their vocalization. In this study, we provide quantitative description of the vocal behaviour of Microhyla nilphamariensis, a widely distributed south Asian species, from Delhi, India, based on call recordings of 18 individuals and assessment of 21 call properties. Based on the properties measured acrossed 360 calls, we find that a typical advertisement call of M. nilphamariensis lasts for 393.5 ±  57.5 ms, has 17 pulses on average and produce pulses at rate of 39 pulses/s. The overall call dominant frequency was found to be 2.8 KHz and the call spectrum consisted of two dominant frequency peaks centered at 1.6 KHz and 3.6 KHz, ranging between 1.5-4.1 KHz. Apart from its typical advertisement call, our study also reveals the presence of three 'rare' call types, previously unreported in this species. We describe variability in call properties and discuss their relation to body size and temperature. We found that overall dominant frequency 1 (spectral property) was found to be correlated with body size, while first pulse period (temporal property) was found to be correlated with temperature. Further, we compare the vocal repertoire of M. nilphamariensis with that of the congener Microhyla ornata from the western coast of India and Sri Lanka and also compare the call properties of these two populations of M. ornata to investigate intra-specific call variation. We find statistically significant differentiation in their acoustic repertoire in both cases. Based on 18 call properties (out of 20), individuals of each locality clearly segregate on PCA factor plane forming separate groups. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) using PCA factors shows 100% classification success with individuals of each locality getting classified to a discrete group. This confirms significant acoustic differentiation between these species as well as between geographically distant conspecifics. The data generated in this study will be useful for comparative bioacoustic analysis of Microhyla species and can be utilized to monitor populations and devise conservation management plan for threatened species in this group.

A new species of Raorchestes (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Yunnan Province, China

A new bush frog species is described from Yunnan, China, based on phylogenetic analyses, species delimitation analyses, and morphological comparisons. Raorchesteshekouensissp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners by a combination of 11 morphological characters. The new species brings the current number of Raorchestes species in China to ten, nine of which are distributed in Yunnan. Molecular analyses supported an unnamed lineage previously recorded as "Raorchestesgryllus" in northern Vietnam. Further studies including additional samples are necessary to clarify the species diversity and boundaries of Raorchestes in China and Indochina.

Reed bamboos drive skull shape evolution in bush frogs of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India

Reed bamboo is a major ecological and economic resource for many animals, including humans. Nonetheless, the influence of this plant's evolutionary role on the morphology of animal species remains unexplored. Here, we investigated the significance of bamboo habitats as ecological opportunities in shaping the skull morphology of bush frogs (Raorchestes) from the Western Ghats, Peninsular India. We applied a three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometric approach to capture the skull shape of 55 species of bush frogs. We visualized the skull shape variables in phylomorphospace with principal component analysis and performed phylogenetic generalized least-squares analysis to assess the impact of cranial size (evolutionary allometry) and habitat (bamboo or non-bamboo) on cranial shape. We quantified the morphological disparity between bamboo and non-bamboo bush frogs' skull shape, and employed RRphylo, a phylogenetic ridge regression method, to access the evolutionary rate and rate shifts of skull shape change. The phylomorphospace delineated bamboo and non-bamboo bush frogs. While cranial shape exhibited a significant but smaller association with size, its association with habitat type was non-significant. We detected, however, significant differences in skull shape between the two frog groups, with bamboo frogs showing higher morphological disparity and a remarkable shift in the evolutionary rate of skull shape diversification. These findings underscore the role of reed bamboo in the evolution of skull shape in the radiation of frogs, endemic to the Western Ghats. We demonstrate that the association between the members of two distinct endemic clades (bamboo reeds and bamboo frogs) is the outcome of a deep-time ecological opportunity that dates back to the Miocene.

First record of Chilapata rain-pool frog Minervarya chilapata Ohler, Deuti, Grosjean, Paul, Ayyaswamy, Ahmed & Dutta, 2009 (Anura, Dicroglossidae) from Nepal

Chilapata rain-pool frog (Minervarya chilapata) was described in 2009 from the Chilapata Reserve Forest of West Bengal, India. Here, we report the occurrence of M. chilapata for the first time from Morang district, Nepal, based on acoustic and morphological characters such as the presence of a distinct white line in the upper lip, small size (snout-vent length 18 to 26 mm), pointed snout and presence of dorso-lateral black patch. The nearest record of Chilapata rain-pool frog in Nepal from Pathari-Kanepokhari forest, Morang district, Nepal is ca.182 km west of its type locality Chilapata Reserve Forest, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India. We also report the occurrence of M. chilapata from Barandabhar Biological Corridor, Chitwan National Park, Nepal based on a photographic record. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the species as Data Deficient. Therefore, this record from Nepal will add new presence data for future status assessment for the species.