Odorrana sudianensis Kilunda, Yu, Wu & Che, 2025

Odorrana sudianensis Kilunda, Yu, Wu & Che sp. nov.

Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 5 A, B View Figure 5 , Table 4 View Table 4

Type material.

Holotype. KIZ 058904 View Materials , adult female collected from Sudian Town , Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, China ( 25°7.6446'N, 97°49.8402'E, 1563 m a. s. l.) on 2 December 2024 by Shen-Ping Yang, Shen-Quan Liu, and Jia-Sheng Liu GoogleMaps .

Paratypes. KIZ 058839 , an adult female, same collection information as the holotype, except for 25°7.4598'N, 97°49.8534'E, 1563 m a. s. l. on 4 September 2024 GoogleMaps .

Etymology.

The specific epithet “ sudianensis ” is a latinised name referring to the type locality Sudian Town, where the new species was collected. We propose “ Sudian odorous frog ” and “ 苏典臭蛙 ” (Pinyin: Sū Diǎn Chòu Wā) as the English and Chinese common names, respectively.

Diagnosis.

Odorrana sudianensis sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Odorrana and differs from its congeners based on the combination of the following morphological characters: (1) Robust medium adult body size ( SVL 78.9–85.3 mm, based on two females); (2) head length longer than head width ( HL / HW 1.08); (3) iris with intricate golden reticulations forming a circumpupillary ring around the periphery; (4) anterior part of dorsum mottled grass green with mottled dark brown blotches covering the posterior region; (5) dorsolateral folds absent; (6) distinct dark brown crossbands on the dorsal surface of limbs; (7) supratympanic fold obvious, weak and short; (8) dorsal and lateral skin slightly granular; (9) tongue cordiform, deeply notched posteriorly; (10) finger discs significantly expanded; (11) circummarginal grooves for all finger discs expanded with lateroventral grooves; (12) inner metacarpal tubercle, large and elongated, two outer metacarpal tubercles, with outer one larger than medial one; (13) supernumerary tubercles below the base of fingers present and rounded; (14) web on toes entirely covered; (15) inner metatarsal tubercle oval and present, outer metatarsal tubercle absent; supernumerary tubercles below the base of toes absent, subarticular tubercles of toes oval and prominent.

Description of holotype.

Adult female KIZ 058904 (Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , Table 4 View Table 4 ), habitus robust, medium body size ( SVL 85.3 mm); head length slightly longer than head width ( HL / HW 1.08); snout length longer than the eye diameter ( SL / ED 1.42); nostril oval, nostrils nearer to the tip of snout than to the eye ( SND / NED 0.76); internarial distance greater than interorbital distance ( IOD / IND 0.73); loreal region concave, oblique; interorbital area slightly flat in dorsal view ( UEW / IOD 1.21); canthus rostralis distinctly visible, rounded; supratympanic fold obvious, weak and short, from the posterior edge of the eye to the corners of the mouth; tympanum clearly distinct with long curved irregular tubercles around it, smaller and shorter than eye diameter (half the eye diameter) ( TD / ED 0.51); maxillary teeth developed; vomerine teeth developed, on two short obliques between choanae, obvious distance from each other; choanae oval; vocal sac absent; tongue cordiform, deeply notched posteriorly.

Fore-limbs robust and shorter; nuptial pads absent; web on fingers absent; inner metacarpal tubercle, large and elongated; outer metacarpal tubercle two, oval, outer one larger than medial one; supernumerary tubercles below the base of fingers present and rounded; subarticular tubercles round and prominent; the tip of fingers expanded into discs, with disc largest in third finger; circum-marginal grooves for all finger discs expanded with lateroventral grooves; relative length of fingers (order III> I> IV> II).

Hind-limbs longer and muscular; tibia length longer than femur length FEM / TIB 0.94); relative length of toes (order IV> V> III> II> I); tibiotarsal articulation of adpressed limb reaching the tip of snout; heels overlap when the tibias are perpendicular to the body axis, but not obvious; web on toes entire web; inner metatarsal tubercles oval and present, outer metatarsal tubercle absent, supernumerary tubercles absent, subarticular tubercles of toes oval and prominent, tips of toes expanded into discs slightly smaller than finger discs.

Dorsal surface of head smooth, lateral skin granular, with granules prominent and largest near the abdomen, ventral skin smooth; dorsolateral fold absent; pectoral gland absent; maxillary gland long and significant.

Colour of holotype in life.

Dorsal surface mottled grass-green extending from the snout to the anterior part of the dorsum with mottled dark brown blotches covering the posterior part; flanks and lateral side of the head yellow with dark brown blotches (may vary across individuals to light yellow), flanks speckled with brownish-black spots; dorsal surface of limbs yellowish-brown with distinct dark brown alternating crossbands with crossbands on fore-limbs less prominent than those on hind-limbs; venter yellowish-white with light brown mottling concentrated on the throat and slightly present on the chest, belly and hind-limbs; iris with intricate golden reticulations forming a circumpupillary ring around the periphery (Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ).

Colour of holotype in preservative.

The mottled grass-green dorsum faded to whitish-grey while the mottled dark brown flanks and limbs slightly faded to whitish-brown with the brownish-black limb crossbars still clearly visible; the yellow colour on the flanks faded to olive-white with faded brownish mottles; the brownish-black crossbars on limbs are well-defined, but less vibrant than in life (Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ).

Morphological variation.

Measurements and morphological features of the paratype are provided in Table 4 View Table 4 . The dorsal head surface, ventrum and limb surface smooth in paratype; the yellowish-white ventrum differs from having light brown mottles concentrated on the throat and slightly present on the chest, belly and hind-limbs in the holotype to ventrum yellowish-white with the throat, chest, belly and hind-limbs unmarked in the paratype.

Natural history.

The new species was collected on rocks under shrubs along riverbeds and mountain streams at an altitude of approximately 1600 m a. s. l. No eggs or gravid females were found. Co-occurring within the same habitat were Odorrana yunnanensis , Leptobrachella yingjiangensis (Yang, Zeng & Wang, 2018) , Megophrys sp. , Jingophrys feii (Yang, Wang & Wang, 2018) and Amolops afghanu s (Günther, 1858) (Fig. 8 A View Figure 8 ).

Distribution.

The new species is currently known only from the type locality in Sudian, Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, China (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ).

Comparisons.

We compared Odorrana sudianensis sp. nov. with some of its nearest congeners and closely-related taxa as recovered from the phylogenetic data analyses while considering closely-related taxa and those whose mitochondrial DNA sequence data were currently unavailable. Additionally, since we only had two female specimens, we limited our morphological comparison to female characters documented for all the taxa included in the morphological analysis. In this case, we carefully examined morphological characters and conducted morphological comparisons of the new species with its sister species O. dulongensis as well as all the species recovered within the larger clade (clade E), consisting of O. margaretae , O. kuangwuensis , O. jingdongensis , O. yunnanensis , O. grahami , O. junlianensis , O. mutschmanni and O. wuchuanensis . Moreover, we conducted morphological comparisons with species lacking sequence information, such as O. arunachalensis , O. bolavensis , O. cangyuanensis , O. gigatympana , O. indeprensa , O. orba , O. sinica and O. monjerai described solely based on morphology and species also known to occur in Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, China, such as O. yunnanensis and O. macrotympana ( Yang, 2008) .

Odorrana sudianensis sp. nov. differs from O. dulongensis by flanks yellow with dark brown blotches (vs. flanks light yellow with black spots); ventrum with light brown mottles on throat and faintly on belly and hind-limbs, but not obvious (vs. ventrum unmarked except for light throat mottling); distinct black spots on upper jaw absent (vs. present); supratympanic fold obvious, weak and short (vs. supratympanic fold distinct); supernumerary tubercles present and rounded (vs. indistinct); finger lengths III> I> IV> II (vs. finger lengths III> IV> II = I, Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ).

Odorrana sudianensis sp. nov. is similar in appearance to O. yunnanensis ; however, it differs by having a smaller body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. 82.3–107.2 mm in adult females); finger discs significantly expanded (vs. finger discs small); absence of a small white dot between the anterior corners of the two eyes (vs. present); and relative length of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative length of fingers III> IV> I = II); from O. margaretae by smaller body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a large body size SVL 93.0–113.0 mm in females); dorsum granular to smooth in some individuals, anteriorly mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the posterior region (vs. dorsum smooth, dark green with no spots); fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative length of fingers III> IV> I> II); from O. kuangwuensis by lack of spots on the toe and finger webbing (vs. present); larger body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. smaller SVL 66.0– 71.4 mm in females); from O. jingdongensis by a smaller body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a larger body size SVL 98.0 mm in females); dorsal surface of head smooth, lateral skin granular, with granules prominent and largest near the abdomen (vs. dorsum covered with moles and scattered large warts from the snout to the vent); relative length of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative length of fingers III> IV> I> II); from O. grahami by having the tip of fingers expanded into discs, with disc largest in the third finger, circum-marginal grooves, all finger discs expanded with lateroventral grooves (vs. fingertips and toe tips not expanded and lateroventral grooves absent); smaller adult body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. larger body size with SVL 89–107 mm in females); a small white spot between the anterior corners of the two eyes (vs. absent); relative length of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative length of fingers III> IV> I = II); from O. junlianensis by a smaller adult body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a large body size SVL 87.2–102.0 mm in females); relative length of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative length of fingers III> IV> I = II); from O. mutschmanni by smaller body size with SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a large body size SVL 108.7–110.1 mm in females); from O. wuchuanensis by tympanum well defined, smaller and half the eye diameter (vs. tympanic membrane large and 4 / 5 of the eye diameter); dorsum anteriorly mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the posterior region (vs. dorsum green with scattered dark spots some with pale golden edges); ventral surface yellowish-white with light brown mottles concentrated on the throat and slightly present on the chest belly and hind-limbs, but not obvious across individuals (vs. ventral mask dark grey and light golden yellow with large patches intertwined into a network); from O. arunachalensis by the absence of a black inter-orbital band (vs. presence of a black inter-orbital band); absence of a pair of discontinuous, black dorso-lateral bands (vs. present); head length longer than head width (vs. head broader than long); tympanum well defined, smaller, half the eye diameter (vs. tympanum small and depressed, 1 / 3 of the eye); dorsum anteriorly mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the posterior region with skin granular to smooth in some individuals (vs. dorsum completely green with brown mottling in female, smooth, with few weak granules on the flanks); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative finger lengths: III> IV> II> I); from O. bolavensis by dorsal skin granular to smooth in some individuals (vs. dorsal skin shagreened with spinules); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative lengths of fingers III> IV> I> II); from O. cangyuanensis by dorsum anteriorly mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the posterior region (vs. dorsum uniform brown or brownish-black); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. III> II> IV> I); from O. gigatympana by having a larger adult female body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a smaller body size SVL 58.0– 67.7 mm in females); dorsum anteriorly mottled grass-green (vs. dorsum uniform brown or grey); flanks and lateral side of the head yellow with dark brown blotches (vs. flanks brown with dark spots); absence of a black stripe extending from the tip of the snout to the eye and from behind the eye above the tympanum to axilla (vs. present); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. III> IV> II> I); dorsolateral folds absent (vs. presence of distinct dorsolateral folds); absence of the outer metatarsal tubercle (vs. present); from O. indeprensa by a smaller body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. a larger body size SVL 92.8–101 mm); from O. orba by dorsal surface and lateral flanks of skin granular (vs. dorsal skin heavily shagreened with some large tubercles); absence of dorsolateral folds (vs. presence of weakly visible dorsolateral folds in females); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative finger lengths III> IV> I> II); from O. sinica by dorsal and lateral flanks of skin granular to smooth in some individuals (vs. smooth); tympanum distinct and well defined (vs. tympanum indistinct and skin-covered); larger body size SVL 78.9–85.3 mm (vs. smaller body size, SVL of single mature female is 66.6 mm); from O. monjerai by the anterior part of dorsum mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the posterior region (vs. dorsum uniform brown or grey and unspotted); absence of dorsolateral folds (vs. presence of distinct dorsolateral folds); dorsal and lateral flanks of skin granular skin (vs. finely tuberculated dorsal skin); from O. macrotympana by having the anterior part of the dorsum mottled grass-green with mottled dark brown blotches on the dorsal and lateral flanks (vs. dorsum greyish-brown, brownish-green or solid green with a few or many tiny black spots); dorsal and lateral flanks of skin granular to smooth in some individuals (vs. smooth dorsal skin); absence of dorsolateral folds (vs. presence of distinct dorsolateral folds); relative lengths of fingers III> I> IV> II (vs. relative finger lengths III> IV> I> II).