Zhangixalus nigropunctatus (Liu, Hu, and Yang, 1962)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Rhacophoridae > Subfamily: Rhacophorinae > Genus: Zhangixalus > Species: Zhangixalus nigropunctatus

Rhacophorus nigropunctatus Liu, Hu, and Yang, 1962, Acta Zool. Sinica, 14: 388. Holotype: CIB 590405, by original designation. Type locality: "Long-chu [Longjie], Weining, altitude 2,134 meters", western Guizhou, China.

Polypedates nigropunctatusJiang, Hu, and Zhao, 1987, Acta Herpetol. Sinica, Chengdu, N.S.,, 6 (1): 34; Fei, Ye, and Huang, 1990, Key to Chinese Amph.: 185; Orlov, Lathrop, Murphy, and Ho, 2001, Russ. J. Herpetol., 8: 28.

Rhacophorus nigropunctatusRao, Wilkinson, and Liu, 2006, Zootaxa, 1258: 17, by implication.

Zhangixalus nigropunctatus — Jiang, Jiang, Ren, Wu, and Li, 2019, Asian Herpetol. Res., 10: 7. 

English Names

Weining Flying Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 114).

Black-snouted Treefrog (Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 288).

Black-spotted Treefrog (Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 468).

Distribution

Isolated populations in central and southwestern China: Anhui (Yuexi county), western Guizhou (Weining and Leishan counties), and western Yunnan (Longling and Pingbian counties), Hunan (Sangzhi and Chengbu counties), China, 600–2100 m elevation; northwestern Vietnam (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, Vietnam

Comment

Considered to be a member of Polypedates by Zhao and Adler, 1993, Herpetol. China: 157, and Orlov, Lathrop, Murphy, and Ho, 2001, Russ. J. Herpetol., 8: 29. Related to Rhacophorus schlegelii, according to the original publication. M. Matsui In Inger, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 546, this to refer to Rhacophorus javanus. Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 216–218, and Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 288–289, provided account (as Rhacophorus nigropunctatus). See comment under Polypedates dorsoviridis, with which this species may be conspecific. Li and Hu, 1996, Zool. Res., Kunming, 17: 483–488, reported  on karyology. See also brief account by Zhao and Yang, 1997, Amph. Rept. Hengduan Mountains Region: 126–127. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 115–116, provided a brief account for Yunnan, China. See statement of geographic range, habitat, and conservation status (as Polypedates nigropunctatus) in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 635. Yu, Rao, Zhang, and Yang, 2009, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 50: 571–579, did not recover this species as monophyletic in a molecular analysis, suggesting that multiple species may be involved. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 857–861, provided an account, spot map, and considered this species a member of their Rhacophorus dugritei group. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 468–69, provided a brief account including photographs of specimens and habitat. Li, Chen, Li, Lv, and Wang, 2011, Asian Herpetol. Res., Ser. 2, 2: 133, provided photographs of the holotype. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 552–553, provided an account, photographs, and a range map. Li, Li, Murphy, Rao, and Zhang, 2012, Zool. Scripta, 41: 557–570, discussed the confused state of understanding of Rhacophorus dorsoviridis and Rhacophorus nigropunctatusShen, 2014, Fauna Hunan, Amph.: 328–331, provided an account for Hunan, China. Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 65, repeated this concern for records of Zhangixalus nigropunctatus from Vietnam being likely referrable to Zhangixalus dorsoviridis; presumably at least some of this concern extends from the results of Mo, Chen, Liao, and Zhou, 2016, Asian Herpetol. Res., 7: 146, which show samples of nominal Rhacophorus nigropunctatus from Jingping and Pingbian, Yunnan, China, phylogenetically close to Rhacophorus dorsoviridis from Lao Cai, Vietnam, and distant from Rhacophorus nigropunctatus from the type locality in Longling, Yunnan, China. 

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