Xenophrys major (Boulenger, 1908)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Megophryidae > Subfamily: Megophryinae > Genus: Xenophrys > Species: Xenophrys major

Xenophrys gigas Jerdon, 1870, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1870: 85. Types: not stated; although ZSIC (4 specimens); ZSIC 9670, 9681, 10777, 10779 reported by Chanda, Das, and Dubois, 2001 "2000", Hamadryad, 25: 102; these rejected as types by Mahony, Kamei, Teeling, and Biju, 2018, Zootaxa, 4523: 46, as part of a general discussion of types and designation of BMNH 1947.2.24.93 (originally 1872.4.17.399) as neotype. This is complicated by the fact that BMNH 1947.2.28.1 (formerly 1872.4.17.414) and 1947.2.24.92–99 (formerly 1872.4.17.398–413) are by museum records considered syntypes. Type locality: "Sikim and the Khasi hills", India. Given as "Khasi Hills, Darjeeling", West Bengal, India, by Gee and Boring, 1929, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 4: 20. Neotype from "Khasi Hills, Meghalaya state", India. Junior secondary homonym of Megalophrys gigas Blyth, 1854 (= Paa liebigii).

Megalophrys major Boulenger, 1908, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1908: 416. Replacement name for Xenophrys gigas Jerdon, 1870.

Megophrys major — Gee and Boring, 1929, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 4: 20; Pope and Boring, 1940, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 15: 28; Smith, 1940, Rec. Indian Mus., 42: 469.

Xenophrys major — Ohler, 2003, Alytes, 21: 23, by implication; Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean, and Ohler, 2006, Alytes, 24: 17; Chen, Zhou, Poyarkov, Stuart, Brown, Lathrop, Wang, Yuan, Jiang, Hou, Chen, Suwannapoom, Nguyen, Duong, Papenfuss, Murphy, Zhang, and Che, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 106: 41; Lyu, Zeng, Wang, Liu, Huang, Li, and Wang, 2021, Zootaxa, 4927: 39.

Liuophrys major — Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1 : 620.

Megophrys (Xenophrys) major — Mahony, Foley, Biju, and Teeling, 2017, Mol. Biol. Evol., 34: 755. 

Common Names

Anderson's Spadefoot Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 86 [as Megophrys lateralis]).

Anderson's Pelobatid Toad (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 63 [as Megophrys lateralis]).

White-lipped Horned Toad (Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 108 as Megophrys lateralis]; Vassilieva, Galoyan, Poyarkov, and Geissler, 2016, Photograph. Field Guide Amph. Rept. Lowland S. Vietnam: 50).

Doi Suthep Spine-eyed Frog (Nutphund, 2001, Amph. Thailand: 87).

Doi Suthep Horn Frog (Nutphund, 2001, Amph. Thailand: 87).

Great Stream Horned Frog (Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 84).

Major's Horned Toad (Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 55).

Major Horned Toad (Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1: 620).

Jerdon's White-lipped Horned Frog (Mahony, Kamei, Teeling, and Biju, 2018, Zootaxa, 4523: 43). 

Greater Stream Horned Frog (Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 154; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 6).

Distribution

Known definitely only from northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland), and although presumably more widespread, possibly into Myanmar, there are several members of the complex in this region making for substantial confusion in the literature; currently undelimited and reidentified members of the species complex found from northeastern India through Myanmar and western Thailand to highlands of Laos and Vietnam as well as Yunnan, China, and extreme northeastern Cambodia (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: India

Likely/Controversially Present: Cambodia, China, People's Republic of, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Endemic: India

Comment

Take care in the use of the literature of this nominal species prior to the appearance of Mahony, Kamei, Teeling, and Biju, 2018, Zootaxa, 4523: 1–96, which delimited a number of cryptic species in northeastern India alone. Considered a synonym of Ixalus lateralis (now Leptolalax lateralis) by Gorham, 1974, Checklist World Amph.: 43, and Zhao and Adler, 1993, Herpetol. China: 119. Fei and Ye, 2000, Cultum Herpetol. Sinica, 8: 59–63, discussed the taxonomy of this species as well as its confusion with Ixalus lateralis Anderson, 1871, and noted that the stated distribution is highly provisonal. Much of the literature of this species refers to it erroneously as Megophrys lateralis and with no confidence that the species they are discussing represents a named part of the complex (e.g., Pope and Boring, 1940, Peking Nat. Hist. Bull., 15: 28; Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 199; Liu, 1950, Fieldiana, Zool. Mem., 2: 180; Dubois, 1980, Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon, 49: 469–482; Rao and Yang, 1997, Asiat. Herpetol. Res., 7: 98; Dubois and Ohler, 1998, Dumerilia, 4: 14; Ye, Fei, and Hu, 1993, Rare and Economic Amph. China: 168, and Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 108–109; Sarkar and Ray, 2006, In Alfred (ed.), Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, Part 1: 292–293). Orlov, Murphy, Ananjeva, Ryabov, and Ho, 2002, Russ. J. Herpetol., 9: 83, commented on nomenclature and implicitly did not accept the arrangement of Fei and Ye, using instead the name Megophrys lateralis. See also brief accounts (as Megophrys lateralis) by Zhao and Yang, 1997, Amph. Rept. Hengduan Mountains Region: 43–44, and Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 37. Stuart, 2005, Herpetol. Rev., 36: 474, provided Laos records. Ao, Bordoloi, and Ohler, 2003, Zoos' Print J., 18: 1117–1125, provided a specific locality for Nagaland, northeastern India. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted one larval description in the literature. Ningombam and Bordoloi, 2007, Zoos' Print J., 22: 2688–2690, provided a record for Manipur, northeastern India. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 29–30, provided a brief account (as Megophrys lateralis) for Yunnan, China. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 370–376, provided an account and spot map for China. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 55–56, provided a brief characterization and photographs. Stuart, Rowley, Neang, Emmett, and Sitha, 2010, Cambodian J. Nat. Hist., 2010: 38–47, provided a record for northeastern Cambodia. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 194–195, provided a brief account including photographs. Tran, Le, Le, Vu, Nguyen, Böhme, and Ziegler, 2010, Herpetol. Notes, 3: 111–119, provided a record from Quang Ngai Province, central Vietnam, and provided a brief morphological diagnosis. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 126, detailed the range (of what should not be considered Xenophrys cf. major) in Thailand. See comment under Leptolalax lateralis. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 223, provided an account, photographs, and a revised range map for China. Wangyal, 2013, J. Threatened Taxa, 5: 4777, provided a record from Trashiyangtse District, eastern Bhutan. See brief account, photograph, and map in Vassilieva, Galoyan, Poyarkov, and Geissler, 2016, Photograph. Field Guide Amph. Rept. Lowland S. Vietnam: 51–53. Chen, Zhou, Poyarkov, Stuart, Brown, Lathrop, Wang, Yuan, Jiang, Hou, Chen, Suwannapoom, Nguyen, Duong, Papenfuss, Murphy, Zhang, and Che, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 106: 28–43, noted that Xenophrys major is a complex of species (most unnamed) and removed Xenophrys maosonensis from the synonymy of this species, which then casts into doubt any records from China and Vietnam previously assigned to Xenophrys major. Subba, Aravind, and Ravikanth, 2016, Check List, 13(1: 2033): 12, considered the presence of this species in Sikkim, India, to be doubtful. Fei and Ye, 2016, Amph. China, 1 : 620–622, provided an account, photograph, and dot map for China, as Liuophrys major. Do, Ngo, and Nguyen, 2017, Hue Univ. J. Sci: Nat. Sci., 126: 85, provided a record from Phu Yen Province, southern Vietnam, and commented on coloration, range, and ecology. Mahony, Kamei, Teeling, and Biju, 2018, Zootaxa, 4523: 39–46. Kharkongor, Saikia, and Deb, 2018, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 118: 44, briefly mentioned the range in India. Lalronunga, Vanramliana, Sailo, and Lalhmingliani, 2020, Reptiles & Amphibians, 27: 474–475, provided a record from Saitual Village, Saitual District, Mizoram, India, confirmed with molecular markers. Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 154–155, provided a brief account (photographs, habitat, and range) for Thailand (in Thai). Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 100–103, provided a brief account, photographs, and a range map for Thailand. In the Xenophrys major group of Lyu, Zeng, Wang, Liu, Huang, Li, and Wang, 2021, Zootaxa, 4927: 9–40, and Lyu, Qi, Wang, Zhang, Zhao, Zeng, Wan, Yang, Mo, and Wang, 2023, Zool. Res., Kunming, 44: 380–450. Decemson, Gouda, Lalbiakzuala, Lalmuansanga, Hmar, Mathipi, and Lalremsanga, 2021, J. Threatened Taxa, 13: 17918–17929, provided a record for Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mamit District, Mizoram, India. Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 36, reiterated that likely all records of nominal Xenophrys major from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos apply to Xenophrys maosonensis. 

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.