Liuixalus

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Liuixalus
Chirixalus romeri.jpg
Liuixalus romeri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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 [1]
Synonyms

RomerusDubois, 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. [2]

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. [3] The genus name Liuixalus commemorates Liu Chengzhao  ( zh ), a Chinese herpetologist. [1] 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. [2] 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. [4]

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. [5]

Species

There are six recognized species in the genus Liuixalus: [6]

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.