Rhacophorus rhodopus Liu and Hu, 1960

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Rhacophoridae > Subfamily: Rhacophorinae > Genus: Rhacophorus > Species: Rhacophorus rhodopus

Rhacophorus rhodopus Liu and Hu, 1960 "1959", Acta Zool. Sinica, 11: 525. Holotype: CIB 571171, by original designation. Type locality: "Meng-yang, Yunnan, 680 meters altitude", China.

Rhacophorus namdaphaensis Sarkar and Sanyal, 1985, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 81: 290. Holotype: ZSIC A7180, by original designation. Type locality: "Namdapha camp (alt. 350 m.), ca. 58 km. from Miao, Tirap district, Arunachal Pradesh, India, ... from a wild banana plant". Synonymy by Bordoloi, Bortamuli, and Ohler, 2007, Zootaxa, 1653: 5–6.

Rhacophorus (Rhacophorus) rhodopus — Dubois, 1987 "1986", Alytes, 5: 77; Mahony, Kamei, Brown, and Chan, 2024, Vert. Zool., Senckenberg, 74: 253, by implication. 

Common Names

Red-webbed Treefrog (Rhacophorus rhodopus: Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 270; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 120; Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 62).

Orange-webbed Treefrog (Rhacophorus rhodopus: Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 62).

Namdapha Flying Frog (Rhacophorus namdaphaensis [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 113).

Namdapha Tree Frog (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 67 (Rhacophorus namdaphaensis [no longer recognized]; Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 112).

Namdapha Bush Frog (Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 105).

Namdapha's Tree Frog (Rhacophorus namdaphaensis [no longer recognized]: Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 177). 

Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 15).

Red-webbed Flying Frog (Vassilieva, Galoyan, Poyarkov, and Geissler, 2016, Photograph. Field Guide Amph. Rept. Lowland S. Vietnam: 121).

Twin-spotted Tree Frog (Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 440).

Red-webbed Whipping Treefrog (Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 45). 

Distribution

Provisional due to whether records from India, Xizang (China) and western Myanmar are assignable to Rhacophorus bipunctatus or Rhacophorus rhodopus: Northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh) to Myanmar (Kachin and Shan provinces), throughout Thailand in isolated populations, Laos, Vietnam (Lao Cai, Quang Binh, Lai Chau, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, and Dong Nai provinces), and southern China (southeastern Xizang, southern Yunnan); peninsular Malaysia (see comment). See comment regarding mtDNA lineages. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: China, People's Republic of, India, Laos, Malaysia, Malaysia, West (Peninsular), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Comment

Removed from the synonymy of Rhacophorus bipunctatus by Bordoloi, Bortamuli, and Ohler, 2007, Zootaxa, 1653: 1, where it had been placed by Inger, Orlov, and Darevsky, 1999, Fieldiana, Zool., N.S., 92: 33. Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 177, and Sarkar and Ray, 2006, In Alfred (ed.), Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, Part 1: 312, provided brief accounts as Rhacophorus namdaphaensis. Bordoloi, Bortamuli, and Ohler, 2007, Zootaxa, 1653: 1–20, discussed confusion with Rhacophorus bipunctatus and suggested that reports of Rhacophorus bipunctatus by Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 487–491 (from Chiang Mai, Thailand); Inger, Orlov, and Darevsky, 1999, Fieldiana, Zool., N.S., 92: 33–34 (from Buon Loi, Vietnam) actually refer to this species. Zhang and Wen, 2000, Amph. Guangxi: 135, provided an account for Guangxi. See account by Liu and Hu, 1961, Tailless Amph. China: 253–255. Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 268–269, provided a brief account, map, and figure. Yang, 1991, Amph. Fauna of Yunnan: 221–223, provided an account. See also brief account by Zhao and Yang, 1997, Amph. Rept. Hengduan Mountains Region: 130–131. Orlov, Nguyen, and Ho, 2008, Russ. J. Herpetol., 15: 67–84, provided a photograph (as Rhacophorus rhodopus) and a key to differentiate this species from others in Vietnam. Nguyen, Tran, Nguyen, and Pham, 2008, Herpetol. Rev., 39: 364, provided a new record and suggested that all previous records of Rhacophorus bipunctatus in Vietnam should be referred to Rhacophorus rhodopus. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 117, provided a brief account for Yunnan, China. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 778–782, provided an account and a spot map for China and assigned this species to their Rhacophorus verrucopus group. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 112–113, provided a brief characterization and photographs. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 472, provided a brief account for China including photographs of specimens. Shi, 2011, Amph. Rept. Fauna Hainan: 59–61, provided an account for Hainan. Li, Zhao, and Dong, 2010, Amph. Rept. Tibet: 62–63, provided an account for Xizang, China. Li, Chen, Li, Lv, and Wang, 2011, Asian Herpetol. Res., Ser. 2, 2: 134, provided photographs of the holotype. Li, Li, Murphy, Rao, and Zhang, 2012, Zool. Scripta, 41: 557–570, discussed the systematics of this nominal species and suggested that populations in Hainan, China, and Vietnam represent an unnamed species. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 556–557, provided an account, photographs, 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. Nguyen, Matsui, Eto, and Orlov, 2014, Russ. J. Herpetol., 21: 279, suggested that, based on a data signature of 434 bp of mtDNA, that this nominal species is a composite, composied of 1) a Vietnamese population from Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Bac Giang; 2) a sample from Gia Lai, Vietnam; and 3) a clade from Yunnan, China, that may be conspecific with Rhacophorus bipunctatus from Malaysia. Pham, Nguyen, Hoang, and Ziegler, 2016, Herpetol. Notes, 9: 31–41, provided a photograph and record for Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Dang, Sun, Lv, Zhao, Wang, Murphy, Wang, and Li, 2016, MtDNA, Part A, 27: 2574–2584, reported molecular evidence for the existence of cryptic species. See account, photograph, and map for Vietnam in Vassilieva, Galoyan, Poyarkov, and Geissler, 2016, Photograph. Field Guide Amph. Rept. Lowland S. Vietnam: 121–123. Pham, Nguyen, Ziegler, and Nguyen, 2017, Herpetol. Notes, 10: 379–381, provided records for Son La Province, Vietnam, with notes on morphology and ecology. Pham, Pham, Hoang, Ziegler, and Nguyen, Herpetol. Notes, 10: 183–191, provided records for Ha Giang Province, Vietnam, with observations on morphology and ecology. Chan, Grismer, and Brown, 2018, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 127: 1010–1019, suggested, albeit tentatively, on the basis of molecular evidence, that the populations of Rhacophorus bipunctatus are actually Rhacophorus rhodopus, although the seeming allopatry of the nominal populations is confusing, suggesting that dense sampling is needed in the intervening geography. Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 440–441, provided a brief account (description, photographs, habitat, and range) for Thailand (in Thai). Nguyen, Brakels, Maury, Sudavanh, Pawangkhanant, Idiiatullina, Lorphengsy, Inkhavilay, Suwannapoom, and Poyarkov, 2020, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 14 (2: e248): 218–249, briefly discussed the natural history and range and provided records for Xiangkhouang and Champasak Provinces, Laos. See comments by Hakim, Trageser, Ghose, Das, Rashid, and Rahman, 2020, Check List, 16: 1239–1268, commented on the similarity of Rhacophorus rhodopus and Rhacophorus bipunctatus. Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 172–173, provided photographs, a brief account for Thailand, and a range map. Luong, Pham, Do, Hoang, Phan, Nguyen, Ziegler, and Le, 2021, Check List, 17: 445–458, provided records for Lai Chau Province, Vietnam, and discussed the range. Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 61, included Cambodia in the range and suggested that existing records of Rhacophorus bipunctatus from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam and on the basis of this conjecture included Cambodia within the range of Rhacophorus rhodopus. This may well be correct, but it would seem that some published evidence is needed. Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 45, briefly discussed identification, habitat, and range in Myanmar. Nguyen, Liu, Wilkinson, Tran, Tran, Trofimets, Dau, and Poyarkov, 2024, Herpetozoa, Wien, 37: 123–136, suggested that previous records from Bac Giang, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Ha Tinh Provinces, northern Vietnam are referrable to Rhacophorus napoensis. Tang, Xiao, Liu, Wang, Yu, and Du, 2024, Zoosyst. Evol., 100: 625–643, reported on mtDNA phylogenetics, adult morphology, and distribution of this species as part of the Rhacophorus bipunctatus/Rhacophorus rhodopus complex, noting that this nominal species is composed of two mtDNA clades which they termed Rhacophorus rhodopus and Rhacophorus "rhodopus" (western Yunnan, China, through central Myanmar to peninsular Thailand and peninsular Malaysia; these authors also suggested that all records from much of Yunnan and Xizang, China, India, and western Myanmar are assignable to Rhacophorus bipunctatus, although this requires confirmation. Lee, Liu, Ouyang, Ai, Liu, He, Huang, Li, Naveen, Yuan, and Chen, 2024, Zoosyst. Evol., 100: 851–862, suggested on the basis of 16s mtDNA evidence that nominal Rhacophorus rhodopus is composed of at least 5 lineages (of which one they assigned to Rhacophorus napoensis). 

 

 

   

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