Kampira Falls frog

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Kampira Falls frog
Babina okinavana.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Nidirana
Species:
N. okinavana
Binomial name
Nidirana okinavana
(Boettger, 1895)
Synonyms
  • Rana okinavanaBoettger, 1895
  • Babina okinavana(Boettger, 1895)
  • Babina psaltes(Kuramoto, 1985)
  • Hylarana psaltes(Kuramoto, 1985)
  • Nidirana psaltes(Kuramoto, 1985)
  • Rana psaltesKuramoto, 1985

The Kampira Falls frog (Nidirana okinavana), also known as the Yaeyama harpist frog or harpist brown frog, is a species in the true frog family (Ranidae). Until recently known as Rana psaltes, it is found on Ishigaki and Iriomote in the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, as well as on Taiwan. [2]

Contents

It is a mid-sized, stout brown frog, with a distinctive suprabrachial gland and a fold of skin running from the shoulders to the hips. [2]

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, freshwater marshes, and canals and ditches. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy

This frog has a confusing taxonomic history which is entwined with that of the Ryūkyū brown frog. Oskar Boettger described a frog species from the Ryūkyū Islands as Rana okinavana. [3] [4] He could not tell for certain where these specimens were collected, as they had reached him via an animal trader and not from the actual collector, but suspected it to be Okinawa in the central Ryūkyūs, the most accessible island of the archipelago. [2]

By 1907, it was known that what supposedly was the same medium-sized brown frog also occurred on the Yaeyama Islands in the southern Ryūkyū archipelago, [5] though subsequently, Boettger's frog could only be found there. Later still, the presence of the brown frogs of Okinawa was verified and they were studied, with scientists believing that Boettger's taxon applied to them. Eventually, the situation had changed to R. okinavana supposedly referring to the Okinawan frogs only, with the Yaeyama frogs being either ignored or believed to belong to another species altogether. This was the situation by the time World War II interrupted further research, with some even believing it did not exist at all. [2]

In the mid-20th century, the Okinawan and Yaeyama frogs were again united under R. okinavana, but once again without checking Boettger's type specimens. By the 1970s, however, the southern frogs, though superficially similar in being about the same size and color, were realized to differ significantly from those on Okinawa. Initially identified as R. adenopleura , the Yaeyama harpist frog was described as a new species, Rana psaltes, in 1985. [6] [2]

In 1999, upon examination of the lectotype of Boettger's R. okinavana, [7] this animal was found to be very similar to R. psaltes, differing from the Okinawan brown frogs just as the recently described Yaeyama frogs did. Furthermore, Boettger's specimens turned out to be included in the same batch from the same collector as his specimens of Chirixalus eiffingeri . These specimens must have been collected on the Yaeyama Islands, however, as it certainly does not occur on Okinawa. Thus, the frogs formerly known as R. psaltes - which had also been found on Taiwan in the meantime - turned out to be the same species that Boettger had described, hence according to ICZN rules, it is now known as R. okinavana, while the Ryūkyū brown frog has yet to receive a scientific name. Furthermore, some slight differences exist between Boettger's types of R. okinavana and Kuramoto's types of R. psaltes which were collected on Iriomote Island. Should Boettger's specimen, e.g. by ancient DNA analysis, turn out to be from Ishigaki and be subspecifically distinct from the Iriomote population, the latter would become subspecies psaltes. [2]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ishigaki Island</span> Island within Ryukyu Islands

Ishigaki Island, also known as Ishigakijima, is a Japanese island south-west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group, behind Iriomote Island. It is located approximately 411 km (255 mi) south-west of Okinawa Hontō. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago. The island is served by New Ishigaki Airport, the largest airport in the Yaeyamas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sakishima Islands</span> Island group within Ryukyu Islands

The Sakishima Islands are an archipelago located at the southernmost end of the Japanese Archipelago. They are part of the Ryukyu Islands and include the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands. The islands are administered as part of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaeyama language</span> Southern Ryukyuan language spoken in the Yaeyama islands

The Yaeyama language is a Southern Ryukyuan language spoken in the Yaeyama Islands, the southernmost inhabited island group in Japan, with a combined population of about 53,000. The Yaeyama Islands are situated in the Southern Ryukyu Islands, southwest of the Miyako Islands and to the east of Taiwan. Yaeyama (Yaimamunii) is most closely related to Miyako. The number of competent native speakers is not known; as a consequence of Japanese language policy which refers to the language as the Yaeyama dialect, reflected in the education system, people below the age of 60 tend to not use the language except in songs and rituals, and the younger generation exclusively uses Japanese as their first language. As compared to the Japanese kokugo, or Japanese national language, other Ryukyuan languages such as Okinawan and Amami have also been referred to as dialects of Japanese. Yaeyama is noted as having a comparatively lower "language vitality" among neighboring Ryukyuan languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaeyama Islands</span> Island group within the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

The Yaeyama Islands are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and cover 591.46 square kilometres (228.36 sq mi). The islands are located southwest of the Miyako Islands, part of the Ryukyu Islands archipelago. The Yaeyama Islands are the remotest part of Japan from the main islands and contain Japan's most southern (Hateruma) and most western (Yonaguni) inhabited islands. The city of Ishigaki serves as the political, cultural, and economic center of the Yaeyama Islands.

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Iriomote Island is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself.

<i>Rana</i> (genus) Genus of amphibians

Rana is a genus of frogs commonly known as the Holarctic true frogs, pond frogs or brown frogs. Members of this genus are found through much of Eurasia and western North America. Many other genera were formerly included here. These true frogs are usually largish species characterized by their slim waists and wrinkled skin; many have thin ridges running along their backs, but they generally lack "warts" as in typical toads. They are excellent jumpers due to their long, slender legs. The typical webbing found on their hind feet allows for easy movement through water. Coloration is mostly greens and browns above, with darker and yellowish spots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryukyu Islands</span> Chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan

The Ryukyu Islands, also known as the Nansei Islands or the Ryukyu Arc, are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands, with Yonaguni the westernmost. The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island.

<i>Nidirana adenopleura</i> Species of frog

Nidirana adenopleura is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is found in Taiwan, south-eastern China, and in the Yaeyama Islands. Populations from Yaeyama Islands might represent a distinct, as yet undescribed species. The records from Vietnam and Thailand are uncertain.

The Ryūkyū brown frog is a species of true frog endemic to the Ryūkyū Islands, specifically Okinawa and perhaps neighboring islands.

Odorrana supranarina is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, and is known from the islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote, both in the Yaeyama Group. The specific name supranarina refers to the large size of this species —at the time of the species description, it was the largest member of the so-called Rana narina complex. Common name greater tip-nosed frog has been coined for it.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean brown frog</span> Species of amphibian

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References

  1. ↑ IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2021). "Nidirana okinavana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T81658784A3072229. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T81658784A3072229.en . Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Matsui, Masafumi (2007): Unmasking Rana okinavana Boettger, 1895 from the Ryukyus, Japan (Amphibia: Anura: Ranidae). Zool. Sci. 24: 199–204. doi : 10.2108/zsj.24.199 (HTML abstract)
  3. ↑ Boettger, O. (1895a): Neue Frösche und Schlangen von den Liukiu-Inseln ["New frogs and snakes from the Ryūkyū Islands"]. [In German] Bericht des Offenbacher Verein für Naturkunde33-36: 101–117.
  4. ↑ Boettger, O. (1895b): Neue Frösche und Schlangen von den Liukiu-Inseln ["New frogs and snakes from the Ryūkyū Islands"]. [In German] Zoologischer Anzeiger18: 266–270. * Lue, Kuangyang; Chou, Wenhao; Kaneko, Yoshio & Matsui, Masafumi (2004). "Babina okinavana". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN. 2004: e.T58685A11810824. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58685A11810824.en . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Stejneger, Leonhard H. (1907): Herpetology of Japan and adjacent territory. Bulletin of the United States National Museum58 1–577.
  6. ↑ Kuramoto, M. (1985): A new frog (genus Rana) from the Yaeyama group of the Ryukyu Islands. Herpetologica41: 150–158.
  7. ↑ Specimen SMF 5830: Matsui (2007).
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