New frog species found in China

A new frog species which unlike ordinary frogs lives only in clean mountain brooks and produces a special sound during mating season has been found in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
The new species Leptolalax tengchongensis, commonly known as the Asian litter frog, was spotted in the Tengchong Section of Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve in the west of Yunnan and was named after the county of Tengchong.
The discovery was jointly made by scientists from the Hong Kong-based Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), Sun Yat-Sen University and Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Unlike ordinary frogs we see in fields or near water, Leptolalax tengchongensis only live in clean mountain brooks," Yang Jianhuan, an analyst with HFBG.

"They hide in the day and come out and explore under shrubs, on dead leaves and between rock gaps by streams after sunset," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Yang as saying.
The field research began in April of 2014 and is still going on.

The new frog can be distinguished from a combination of multiple characters, including its relatively small sizes between 2 and 3 centimetres, shagreen dorsal skin scattered with fine, round-reddish tubercles, toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes, besides flanks with several distinct and large dark blotches, Yang said.
Yang said they also had a special call sound.

During the mating season, male frogs croak like crickets or similar insects, Yang said, adding that despite the sound they make, they are still difficult to be found due to their camouflage.
"The discoveries further demonstrate our ignorance of the diversity of amphibians and reptiles in the area. And the protection work is heavier than ever," Yang said.
To date, the new species has only been found in evergreen broadleaf forests at elevations between 2,000-2,100 meters.
Gaoligong Mountain has always interested global scholars in the field of herpetology, the branch of zoology concerned with reptiles and amphibians.
New species, including Bufo tuberospinius, Amolops viridimaculatus and Trimeresurus yunnanensis, were found around Tengchong Section in recent years.

In January, scientists from Kunming Institute of Zoology confirmed the discovery of another rare frog that can breed without the help of water.
The frogs, spotted in Tibet, were categorised under the oldest available generic name for this clade - Liurana, and joined 12 other Chinese amphibian families.