Scutiger sikimmensis (Blyth, 1855)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Megophryidae > Subfamily: Leptobrachiinae > Genus: Scutiger > Species: Scutiger sikimmensis

Bombinator sikimmensis Blyth, 1855 "1854", J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 23: 300. Syntypes: Not stated; ZSIC (2 specimens), according to Boulenger, 1887, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 5, 20: 405; these given as ZSIC 9854–55 by Sclater, 1892, List Batr. Indian Mus.: 30, and Chanda, Das, and Dubois, 2001 "2000", Hamadryad, 25: 101. Reported as lost, in error, by Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 20, who designated BMNH 1887.11.2.15 neotype, this set aside by the discovery of the the ZSIC syntypes. See noted by Hofmann, Jablonski, and Schmidt, 2024, ZooKeys, 1210: 243. Type locality: Not stated but presumably Sikkim area; reported as "Sikkim",  India, by Theobald, 1868, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 37: 83. Invalid neotype from "Byutan, foot of Yakla Pass, Sikkim, at an altitude of 13000 feet".

Bombinator sikkimensis — Günther, 1864, Rept. Brit. India: 400. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Scutiger sikkimmensis — Theobald, 1868, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 37: 83; Swan and Leviton, 1962, Proc. California Acad. Sci., Ser. 4, 32: 108; Myers and Leviton, 1962, Copeia, 1962: 290. Misspelling.

Bufo sikkimmensis — Anderson, 1871, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1871: 204. Misspelling of species name.

Bufo sikkimensis Stoliczka, 1872, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1872: 112. Syntypes: Deposition not stated, presumably ZSIC and/or BMNH. Type locality: "does not appear common in Sikkim; I found a few specimens around Darjiling at an elevation of about 7000 feet", India. Synonymy with Bufo himalayanus by Chabanaud, 1922, Rept. Batr. Result. Scient. Miss. Guy Barbault Region Occident. Himalaya: 13; and Nieden, 1923, Das Tierreich, 46: 117. Synonym not mentioned by Dubois, 1974, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 3, Zool., 213: 341-410, nor Dubois and Ohler, 1999, J. South Asian Nat. Hist., 4: 133-180, suggesting that this name is a new combination of Bombinator sikimmensis Blyth (= Scutiger sikimmensis) misapplied to specimens of this species. Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 302, treated it as a subsequent usage of Bombinator sikimmensis Blyth, 1855.

Cophophryne sikkimensis — Boulenger, 1887, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 5, 20: 406.

Scutiger (Scutiger) sikimmensis — Dubois, 1980, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 49: 478; Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 15; Fei, Ye, and Li, 1989, Acta Zool. Sinica, 35: 387; Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 84-85; Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean, and Ohler, 2006, Alytes, 24: 13.

Common Names

Sikkim Lazy Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 87; Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 21).

Sikimmese Pelobatid Toad (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 63; Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 21).

Sikkim High Altitude Toad (Schleich, Anders, and Kästle, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 78; Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 21).

Blyth's Short-limbed Frog (Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 12).

Sikkim Spade Foot Frog (Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 77; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 6).

Distribution

Nepal (2860–4116 m elevation) east through Sikkim and Meghalaya (India) and Bhutan to Nepal and adjacent borderlands of southern Tibet (China).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Bhutan, China, People's Republic of, India, Nepal

Comment

In the Scutiger sikimmensis group according to Dubois, 1978, Senckenb. Biol., 59: 169. See accounts by Dubois, 1974, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. Paris, Ser. 3, Zool., 213: 355-356, and Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 19-20. Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 40, provided a brief account; Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 84-85, provided a brief account, map, and figure. Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 12-13, provided a brief account for the Indian population. Anders, 2002, in Schleich and Kästle (eds.), Amph. Rept. Nepal: 179-181, provided an extensive account for Nepalese population. See brief account by Shrestha, 2001, Herpetol. Nepal: 77. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 207-, provided an account and spot map for China. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 53, provided a brief characterization and photographs. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 151, provided a brief account including photographs of specimens and habitat. Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 21-22, provided an account for Tibet, China. See Shah and Tiwari, 2004, Herpetofauna Nepal: 46, for brief account for Nepal. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted several larval descriptions in the literature. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 179, provided an account, photographs, and a range map. See Khatiwada, Shu, Subedi, Wang, Ohler, Cannatella, Xie, and Jiang, 2019, Asian Herpetol. Res., 10: 139–157, for comments on morphology. See account for Tibet by Che, Jiang, Yan, and Zhang, 2020, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 84–89. Khatiwada, Wang, Zhao, Xie, and Jiang, 2021, Asian Herpetol. Res., 12: 1–35, discussed the genetics of the species in Nepal.      

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