Hyla annectans (Jerdon, 1870)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Subfamily: Hylinae > Genus: Hyla > Species: Hyla annectans

Polypedates annectans Jerdon, 1870, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1870: 84. Syntypes: ZSIC 10170-72, according to Sclater, 1892, List Batr. Indian Mus.: 31; see comments. Type locality: "Khasi" Hills, Meghalaya, India. Given in error as "Upper Burma" by Gee and Boring, 1929, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 4: 24. See comment below regarding application of this name. 

Hyla annectensGünther, 1876 "1875", Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1875: 576; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 382. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hyla annectansBoring, 1938 "1938–1939", Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 13: 94.

Hyla annectans annectansYang, Su, and Li, 1983, Acta Herpetol. Sinica, Chengdu, N.S.,, 2 (3): 40; Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 107.

Hyla annectans gongshanensis Yang, Su, and Li, 1983, Acta Herpetol. Sinica, Chengdu, N.S.,, 2 (3): 40; Types: KIZ. Type locality: Outskirts of Gongshan Xian, Yunnan Province, 1,500 m, China, 1500 m elevation. Nomen nudum.

Hyla annectans gongshanensis Li and Yang, 1985, Zool. Res., Kunming, 6: 23, 27. Holotype: KIZ 730059, by original designation. Type locality: "outskirts of Gongshan Xian, Yunnan [Province]; 1,500 m", China.

Hyla annectans gonshanensisYang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 107. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Hyla annectans wulingensis Shen, 1997, Zool. Res., Kunming, 18: 177, 182. Holotype: HNNU 86.646, by original designation. Type locality: "Tianping Mountain (29° 49′ N, 110° 9′ E), Sangzhi, Hunan Province; altitude 1350 m", China.

Hyla annectans jingdongensis Fei and Ye In Ye, Fei, Li, and Li, 2000, Cultum Herpetol. Sinica, 8: 89, 93. Holotype: CIB 581469, by original designation. Type locality: "Xingminxiang, Jingdong County (100° 30′ E, 24° 61′ N), Yunnan Province, altitude 2090 m", China. Dubois, Crombie, and Glaw, 2005, Alytes, 23: 34, as first revisors considered this the original spelling noting variants within the original publication.

Hyla annectans tengchongensis Ye, Fei, and Li In Ye, Fei, Li, and Li, 2000, Cultum Herpetol. Sinica, 8: 89, 93. Holotype: CIB 980220, by original designation. Type locality: "Tietou, Tengchong County (98° 50′ E, 25° 60′ N), Yunnan Province, altitude 1660 m", China. Dubois, Crombie, and Glaw, 2005, Alytes, 23: 34, as first revisors considered this the original spelling noting variants within the original publication.

Hyla annectans chuanxiensis Ye and Fei In Ye, Fei, Li, and Li, 2000, Cultum Herpetol. Sinica, 8: 90, 93. Holotype: CIB XI0725, by original designation. Type locality: "Zishi, Tianquan County (102° 36′ E, 30° 03′ N), Sichuan Province, altitude 900 m", China.

Hyla gongshanensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 616.

Hyla gongshanensis chuanxiensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 617.

Hyla gongshanensis gongshanensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 621.

Hyla gongshanensis jingdongensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 625.

Hyla gongshanensis tengchongensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 631.

Hyla gongshanensis wulingensisFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 634.

Hyla (Hyla) annectans — Fouquette and Dubois, 2014, Checklist N.A. Amph. Rept.: 331, by implication. 

English Names

Assam Treefrog (Hyla annectans: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 54).

Indian Hylid Frog (Hyla annectans: Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 66; Ahmed, Das, and Dutta, 2009, Amph. Rept. NE India: 27; Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 47).

Jerdon's Tree Frog (Hyla annectans: Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 33).

West China Tree Toad (Hyla annectans annectans: Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 144).

Gongshan Tree Toad (Hyla annectans gongshanensis: Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 146).

Indian Leaf Frog (Chan-ard, Grossmann, Gumprecht, and Schulz, 1999, Amph. Rept. Peninsular Malaysia Thailand: 20; Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 94).

Jingdong Tree Toad (Hyla annectans jingdonensis: Fei and Ye, 2001, Color Handbook Amph. Sichuan: 161).

Chuanxi Tree Toad (Hyla annectans chuanxiensis: Fei and Ye, 2001, Color Handbook Amph. Sichuan: 162).

Wuling Tree Toad (Hyla annectans wulingensis: Fei and Ye, 2001, Color Handbook Amph. Sichuan: 161).

Tengchong Tree Toad (Hyla gongshanensis tengchongensis:  Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 281). 

Green Leave Frog (Nutphund, 2001, Amph. Thailand: 89).

Southwestern China Treefrog (Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 18).

Indian Hylid Frog (Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 38; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 5).

Tengchong Tree Toad (Hyla gongshanensis tengchongensis:  Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 281). 

Gongshan Tree Toad (Hyla annectans gongshanensisFei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 146).

Distribution

Southern Asia (south of Himalayas) from Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, and Meghalaya (India) through northern Myanmar (Chin, Kachin, Sagaing, Shan), and northern montane Vietnam to western China (Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan); isolated records in northwestern Thailand (Mae Hong Son Province) and adjacent Myanmar; expected in Laos and Bangladesh.  

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Likely/Controversially Present: Bangladesh, Laos

Comment

In the Hyla arborea group of Faivovich, Haddad, Garcia, Frost, Campbell, and Wheeler, 2005, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 294: 101–102, and Hua, Fu, Li, Nieto-Montes de Oca, and Wiens, 2009, Herpetologica, 65: 246–259. Discussed by Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 222-223; Pope, 1931, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 61: 474–477; Liu, 1950, Fieldiana, Zool. Mem., 2: 224–231; Liu and Hu, 1961, Tailless Amph. China: 130–133, and Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 55. See accounts by Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 345–346; Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 107–111, Ye, Fei, and Hu, 1993, Rare and Economic Amph. China: 198; and Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 144–145. Fei and Ye, 2001, Color Handbook Amph. Sichuan: 161, provided a brief account and illustration for Hyla annectans jingdongensis and Hyla annectans chuanxiensis. Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 33–34, provided a brief account for the Indian population. Zhang and Wen, 2000, Amph. Guangxi: 62, provided an account for Guangxi. See also brief account by Zhao and Yang, 1997, Amph. Rept. Hengduan Mountains Region: 77–79. Zhang, 2002, Sichuan J. Zool., 21: 198–199, provided a key to differentiate this species from others in China. Nutphund, 2001, Amph. Thailand: 89, provided a brief characterization, but Ohler, 2003, Alytes, 21: 101, noted that the animal photographed and referred to this species is actually Rana andersoni. Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 94–95, provided a very brief account, map for Thailand, and photograph. Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 18, provided specific localities for Vietnam. Ao, Bordoloi, and Ohler, 2003, Zoos' Print J., 18: 1117–1125, provided a specific locality for Nagaland, northeastern India. Devi and Shamungou, 2006, J. Exp. Zool. India, 9: 317–324, provided a record for Manipur, northeastern India. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted a number of larval descriptions, of varying completenes and confidence of identification, in the literature. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 62–63, provided a brief account for Yunnan, China. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 616-640, considered Hyla annectans and Hyla gongshanensis to be different species, on the basis of finding the syntypes of Hyla annectans from northeastern India to be distinguishable from the Chinese material available to them. The published diagnosis based on the types of Polypedates annectans would render the name a nomen dubium, so it is of some importance that the types be examined and their identity confirmed as being the same as the living populations to which the name has been assigned for over 150 years—DRF.) But, Fei et al. (2009) provided only a very brief diagnosis of Hyla annectans, did not resolve the identity of the types of Polypedates annectans, and did not delimit this species geographically, leaving the populations from Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam unassigned and their status problematic. Nevertheless, they provided a key, accounts, and a spot maps for China as Hyla gongshanensis. The status of populations of Hyla in the intervening areas is problematic and warrants detailed study. Unfortunately, each country's specialists do not seem interested in populations outside of their own country. Ahmed, Das, and Dutta, 2009, Amph. Rept. NE India: 27, provided a brief account for northeastern India. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 47–48, provided a brief characterization and photographs. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 248–249 (as Hyla gongshanensis chunaxiensis), p. 250 (as Hyla gongshanensis gongshanensis), pp. 250–251 (as Hyla gongshanensis jingdongensis), p. 252 (as Hyla gongshanensis tengchongensis), pp. 252–253 (as Hyla gongshanensis wuliengensis), provided brief accounts including photographs of specimens and habitat. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 126, detailed the range in Thailand. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 278–285, provided accounts (Hyla gongshanensis chuanxiensis: 278–279; Hyla gongshanensis gongshanensis: 280; Hyla gongshanensis tengchongensis: 281; Hyla gongshanensis jingdongensis: 282–283; Hyla gongshanensis wulingensis: 284–285), photographs, and range maps for China only. Ziegler, Tran, Nguyen, Perl, Wirk, Kulisch, Lehmann, Rauhaus, Nguyen, Le, and Vu, 2014, Herpetol. Notes, 7: 185–201, provided a record for Ha Giang Province and briefly discussed the range. In the Hyla chinensis group of Li, Wang, Nian, Litvinchuk, Wang, Li, Rao, and Klaus, 2015, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 87: 80–90, and who presented evidence that this taxon represents a species complex. Wangyal, 2014, J. Bhutan Ecol. Soc., 1: 30, suggested that the presence of this species in Bhutan requires confirmation, and the identification was subsequently rejected by Mahony, Nidup, Streicher, Teeling, and Kamei, 2022, Herpetol. J., 32: 168. Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1: 837–884, provided accounts by subspecies (as Hyla gonglianensis), photographs, and spot maps. Shen, 2014, Fauna Hunan, Amph.: 189–193, provided a detailed account (as Hyla gongshanensis wulingensis) for Hunan, China. Zhang, 2017, Amph. Rept. Fanjing Mts.: 100–103, provided taxonomic and natural history information for the Fanjing Mountains population (as Hyla gongshanensis wulingensis) in northeastern Guizhou, China. Ye, Zhu, Yu, Zhang, and Zhang, 2014, Mitochondrial DNA, 27: 1593-1594, reported on the complete mitochondrial genome. Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 81, provided a brief account for Thailand, and a range map. Wei, Li, Momigliano, Fu, Wu, and Merilä, 2020, Mol. Ecol., 29: 3667–3683, reported on molecular phylogeography/phylogenetics/biogeography within China, noting 7 lineages with high levels of genetic differentiation, all of which have names, which the authors treated as subspecies, although although the data are consistent with species-lineages. Similarly, the results and (apparent) taxonomy embraced by Yan, Pan, Wu, Kang, Ali, Zhou, Li, Wu, and Zhang, 2020, Frontiers Ecol. Evol., 8 (234): 1–18, involves a paraphyletic "Hyla annectans" (with respect to Hyla tsinglingensis) and a "Hyla annectans" which according to their own results is composed to several distinctive lineages, which they variable refer to as species or subspecies. However, the type locality for nominal Hyla annectans is in India, and these authors included no terminals within their target group from anywhere other than China. The result is that real Hyla annectans is possibly something different from the population in Yunnan and Sichuan, China, currently carrying the name Hyla annectans in China. Moreover, it is not clear that the ZSIC syntypes of Hyla annectans (from India) are demonstrably conspecific with the lineage currently carrying that name (S. D. Biju, personal comm. to DRF). Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 26, briefly discussed identification, systematics, habitat, and range in Myanmar. Raj, Vasudevan, Aggarwal, Dutta, Sahoo, Mahapatra, Sharma, Janani, Kar, and Dubois, 2023, Alytes, 39–40: 48–53, reported on larval morphology of genetically-confirmed specimens from Meghalaya, India.

      

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