Leptobrachium chapaense (Bourret, 1937)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Megophryidae > Subfamily: Leptobrachiinae > Genus: Leptobrachium > Species: Leptobrachium chapaense

Megophrys hasseltii chapaensis Bourret, 1937, Annexe Bull. Gen. Instr. Publique, Hanoi, 1937: 18. Syntypes: MNHNP 38.89–92, 48.117.120 (total of 8 specimens) (according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 11), remaining 7 syntypes presumably in Lab. Sci. Univ. Hanoi, B. 136–138, B. 174–179, Z. 207, Z. 247–251. MHNHP 1948.0118 designated lectotype by Dubois and Ohler, 1998, Dumerilia, 4: 15. Type locality: "Chapa" (= Sa Pa), northern Vietnam.

Leptobrachium hasselti chapaensis — Inger, 1966, Fieldiana, Zool., 52: 32.

Leptobrachium (Leptobrachium) chapaense — Dubois, 1980, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 49: 476. Dubois and Ohler, 1998, Dumerilia, 4: 23; Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean, and Ohler, 2006, Alytes, 24: 12.

Leptobrachium (Vibrissaphora) chapaense — Matsui, Hamidy, Murphy, Khonsue, Yambun Imbun, Shimada, Ahmad, Belabut, and Jiang, 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 56: 269.

Common Names

Sapa Spadefoot Toad (Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 32). 

Chapa Spadefoot Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 85; Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 11).

Chapa Pseudomoustache Toad (Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 92).

White-eyed Litter Frog (Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 76).

Chapa Bicolor-eyed Toadfrog (Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 28). 

Distribution

Northern Vietnam (Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Bac Giang, and Ha Giang provinces in the north southwards to Tuyen Quang and Thua Thien Hue Provinces) through Laos (Bokeo and Bolikhamxai provinces) to Chiang Mai and Tak provinces, Thailand (see comment), and eastern Shan state, Myanmar (see comment), and the Hengduanshan Mountains of southern Yunnan (Mengzi, Jinping, and Pingbian counties), China. See comments.

Geographic Occurrence

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

Comment

See brief account and illustration by Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 214. Redescribed and discussed by Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov, and Ho, 1998, Russ. J. Herpetol., 5: 51–60; see also Dubois and Ohler, 1998, Dumerilia, 4: 20, who provided a record for Bokeo Province, Laos. See also Matsui, Nabhitabhata, and Panha, 1999, Japan. J. Herpetol., 18: 19–29, for discussion. See brief account, map, and figure by Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 68–70; Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 92–93. See also brief account by Zhao and Yang, 1997, Amph. Rept. Hengduan Mountains Region: 48–49. Stuart, 1999, in Duckworth et al. (eds.), Wildlife in Lao PDR, provided a record (as Leptobrachium pullum) for Nape border area, Khamkeut District, Bolikhamxau Province, Laos, according to Stuart, 2005, Herpetol. Rev., 36: 473–474. Bain and Nguyen, 2004, Am. Mus. Novit., 3453: 10–11, provided a record for Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 76–77, provided a very brief account, map for Thailand, and photograph. Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 11–12, provided records for Vietnam. Zheng, Li, and Fu, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 46: 695–707, and Rao and Wilkinson, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 46: 61–73, suggested that nominal Leptobrachium chapaense is a species complex, some components of which are not each others' nearest relatives. Specifically, they mentioned the population of Leptobrachium "chapaense" from Tam Dao, Vietnam, as the sister taxon of Leptobrachium hainanense, and the populations from Ha Giang (also northern Vietnam) is new. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 36, provided a brief account for Yunnan, China. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 248–251, provided an account for the Chinese population and spot map. Matsui, Hamidy, Murphy, Khonsue, Yambun Imbun, Shimada, Ahmad, Belabut, and Jiang, 2010, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 56: 259–272, provided molecular evidence that nominal Leptobrachium chapaense is a composed of more than one lineage. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 156, provided a brief account including photographs. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 124, detailed the range in Thailand. Wogan, 2012, Zootaxa, 3415: 33, noted that the allocation of Myanmar specimens is more complicated than previously suggested by Orlov, Murphy, Ananjeva, Ryabov, and Ho, 2002, Russ. J. Herpetol., 9: 82. Wogan, 2012, Zootaxa, 3415: 33, also noted that the records for the Karin region of Myanmar are likely referable to another, maybe unnamed, species. Chen, Zhang, Zhou, Li, Huang, and Mo, 2013, Zootaxa, 3641: 31–40, regarded Leptobrachium "chapaense" from Tam Dao to correspond to Leptobrachium guangxiense on the basis of molecular evidence. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 184–185, provided an account, photograph, and a range map. Hecht, Pham, Nguyen, Nguyen, Bonkowski, and Ziegler, 2013, Biodiversity J., 4: 507–552, reported a record from Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve, Bac Giang Province, northeastern Vietnam and discussed the range. Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1: 454–456, provided an account for China, photograph, and range map. Luong, Nguyen, Le, Nguyen, and Nguyen, 2019, Herpetol. Notes, 12: 375–387, provided records from Dien Bien Province, Vietnam, and discussed the range and natural history. Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 90–91, provided a brief account, photographs, and a range map. Le, Luong, Pham, Phan, Nguyen, Ziegler, and Nguyen, 2021, Bonn Zool. Bull., 70: 201–219, provided natural history notes and a record from Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam. Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 32, suggested that the record from Thailand by Chuaynkern and Chuaynkern (2012, not yet seen by DRF) refers to Leptobrachium huashen. Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 27, briefly discussed identification, habitat, and range in Myanmar. Stuart, Seateun, Sivongxay, and Phimmachak, 2025 "2024", in Wildlife Lao PDR: 34, summarized literature, taxonomy, habitat, and detailed range for Laos. 

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