China News Service, Kunming, March 24th. The public account of the Southeast Asian Biodiversity Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (referred to as the "Southeast Asia Center") released the news on the 24th. The Che Jing Research Group of the Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Research Group of the Southeast Asian Center have discovered three New records for amphibians in Myanmar: Polypedates braueri, Nasutixalus jerdonii, and Oreolatala jingdongensis.
Myanmar is the largest country in Southeast Asia and a hotspot for global biodiversity. There are many types of wild animals and plants and high endemism. But little is known about the amphibians and reptiles in this area. Currently, Myanmar only records about 170 amphibians, compared with about 550 and 460 amphibians in China and India, respectively.
Recently, Chinese researchers conducted field trips in the grape region of Kachin State in northern Myanmar. Combining morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic data, they found three new records of Burmese amphibians: Polypedates braueri. Indian edge-nosed tree frog (Nasutixalus jerdonii) and Jingdong tooth toad (Oreolalax jingdongensis). Among them, Nasutixalus and Oreollalax were first recorded in Myanmar.
Researchers say these findings confirm that the diversity of amphibians in Myanmar is underestimated, and future field trips will find more undescribed species in Myanmar. In addition, northern Myanmar is a biogeographic corridor connecting the surrounding areas. Due to urbanization, Myanmar's biodiversity is currently suffering from habitat loss and degradation, so a large number of timely investigations are needed to provide practical data for the conservation of biodiversity in this area.
The research results were published in the International Taxonomy Journal Zootaxa under the title "New country records for three species of frog from Myanmar including two genera (Nasutixalus and Oreolalax)". (Finish)