Liuixalus

Liuixalus
Liuixalus romeri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Subfamily: Rhacophorinae
Genus: Liuixalus
Li, Che, Bain, Zhao, and Zhang, 2008
Type species
Philautus romeri
Li, Che, Bain, Zhao, and Zhang, 2008
Synonyms

Romerus Dubois, Ohler & Pyron, 2021

Liuixalus is a small genus of rhacophorid frogs that are distributed in southern China (Hong Kong, Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong). Some species now in Liuixalus were originally placed in Philautus. It is thought to be sister to the remaining lineages within Rhacophorinaeae.

The genus was first erected as Liuixalus in 2008 based on molecular genetic evidence showing distinctness of Liuixalus romeri (then known as Chiromantis romeri) from the rest of Chiromantis. The genus name Liuixalus commemorates Liu Chengzhao [zh], a Chinese herpetologist. In 2021, another phylogenetic study deemed the name Liuixalus as invalidly proposed due to a lack of a diagnosis for the genus in the original study, and thus redescribed the genus as Romerus, alongside morphological characteristics distinguishing it. The name Romerus commemorates British herpetologist John D. Romer. However, in 2023, the name was changed back to Liuixalus on the basis of Ren, Jiang & Li, who refuted the requirement for a genus name to have morphological characteristics associated with it.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed two species of the genus as vulnerable (Liuixalus ocellatus and L. hainanus), one as endangered (L. romeri), and one as least-concern (L. feii), while Liuixalus shiwandashan is considered data deficient.

Species

There are six recognized species in the genus Liuixalus:

References

  1. 1 2 Li, J. T.; Che, J.; Bain, R. H.; Zhao, E. M.; Zhang, Y. P. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny of Rhacophoridae (Anura): A framework of taxonomic reassignment of species within the genera Aquixalus, Chiromantis, Rhacophorus, and Philautus". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48 (1): 302–312. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.023. PMID 18442928.
  2. 1 2 Dubois, Alain; Ohler, Annemarie; Pyron, R. Alexander (2021-02-26). "New concepts and methods for phylogenetic taxonomy and nomenclature in zoology, exemplified by a new ranked cladonomy of recent amphibians (Lissamphibia)". Megataxa. 5 (1): 1–738–1–738. doi:10.11646/megataxa.5.1.1. ISSN 2703-3090.
  3. ↑ Li, Jiatang; Dingqi Rao; Robert W. Murphy; Yaping Zhang (2011). "The systematic status of rhacophorid frogs" (PDF). Asian Herpetological Research. 2: 1–11. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1245.2011.00001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  4. ↑ "On the Validity of the Generic Nomen Liuixalus Li, Che, Bain, Zhao, and Zhang, 2008 (Anura: Rhacophoridae)". Asian Herpetological Research: 121–122. 2023-03-27. doi:10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.220073. ISSN 2095-0357.
  5. ↑ IUCN (2021). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>". Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  6. ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Liuixalus Li, Che, Bain, Zhao, and Zhang, 2008". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 29 July 2015.