Named the short-legged toad, the frog was found in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.
Scientists have described a new species of frog from the genus Brachytarsophrys. Named the short-legged toad, the frog was found in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.
Holotype (KIZ2019035) of Brachytarsophrys jinxiuensis sp. nov. in life. (A) Dorsal view; (B) left view; (C) ventral view; (D) closeup view of the crotch region. Photo by Shuo Liu, Mian HOU, Dingqi Rao
Brachytarsophrys jinxiuensis is different from its congeners in that it has a relatively small body size, smooth dorsal skin with several large tubercles on the dorsum and crotch, and a long snout with small eyes. It features short pectoral glands in an orange coloration, blood red irises with a reddish brown lower iris and a nuptial pad on the first finger of the adult male. It features a 4.2-15.7% genetic divergence and a 3.3 to 15.2% in COI and cytp genes. It marks the 12th species in the Brachytarsophrys genus, and the third found in Guanxi. The other 10 occur in China. The frog is named after the county in Guangxi where it was first discovered.
The complete paper describing the species, “A new species of the genus Brachytarsophrys Tian & Hu, 1983 (Anura: Megophryidae) from Guangxi, China” can be read on ResearchGate.net.
