Disordered Translocation is Hastening Local Extinction of the Chinese Giant Salamander

Biodiversity is declining globally by an unprecedented extinction rate.This is especially true for amphibians,accounting for 24.3%of all threatened vertebrates.As the largest extant amphibian species in the world,wild populations of the Chinese giant salamander(Genus Andrias)(CGS)have decreased dramatically because of overexploitation and habitat degradation.Translocation has become an important strategy for restoring threatened wild populations worldwide.However,disordered tra nsloca tion usually has negative effects on the native populations.We provide an overview of CGS translocation and show that disordered translocation can increase local population extinction.Nearly four times the estimated number of wild individuals have been released across China.There a re three types of translocation used for CGS,namely,reinforcement,reintroduction and ecological replacement,the last of which accounts for over one-third of translocations.Our genetic screening revealed that most released individuals were not from local populations,with one to four lineages detected in every release site(n=6).This disordered translocation can potentially reduce the genetic integrity of original populations.Hence,we suggest suspending current CGS translocation activities immediately,until more robust measures can be developed and implemented to improve the current translocation program,especially with respect to lineage identifica tion a nd the identifica tion of appropriate release sites.

Amphibian Species Contribute Similarly to Taxonomic, but not Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity: Inferences from Amphibian Biodiversity on Emei Mountain

Understanding the relationships between species, communities, and biodiversity are important challenges in conservation ecology. Current biodiversity conservation activities usually focus on species that are rare, endemic, distinctive, or at risk of extinction. However, empirical studies of whether such species contribute more to aspects of biodiversity than common species are still relatively rare. The aim of the present study was to assess the contribution of individual amphibian species to different facets of biodiversity, and to test whether species of conservation interest contribute more to taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity than do species without special conservation status. To answer these questions, 19 000 simulated random communities with a gradient of species richness were created by shuffling the regional pool of species inhabiting Emei Mountain. Differences of diversity values were then computed before and after removing individual species in these random communities. Our results indicated that although individual species contributed similarly to taxonomic diversity, their contribution to functional and phylogenetic diversity was more idiosyncratic. This was primarily driven by the diverse functional attributes of species and the differences in phylogenetic relationships among species. Additionally, species of conservation interest did not show a significantly higher contribution to any facet of biodiversity. Our results support the claims that the usefulness of metrics based only on species richness is limited. Instead, assemblages that include species with functional and phylogenetic diversity should be protected to maintain biodiversity.

A New Species of the Gekko japonicus Group(Squamata:Gekkonidae)from Southwest China

A new species of the Gekko(Squa ma ta:Gekkonidae)is described from the border of Sichuan and Yunnan Province,southwest China,based on distinct morphological and molecular features.Gekko jinjiangensis sp.nov.is distinguished from congeners by a combination of the following characters:size small(SVL 50.2–61.6 mm,n=13);nares in contact with rostral;interorbital scales between anterior corners of the eyes 20–24;ventral scales between mental and cloacal slit 146–169;midbody scale rows 111–149;ventral scale rows 31–47;subdigital lamellae on first toe 8–11,on fourth toe 11–15;no webbing in the fingers and toes;with tubercles on uapper surface of fore and hind limbs;precloacal pores 4–5 in males;postcloacal unilateral tubercles 1–2;dorsal surface of body with 8–9 large greyish brown markings between nape and sacrum.In molecular analyses,the new species is sister to G.scabridus,but separated from them by approximately 9.9%–12.2%in genetic divergence as shown by a fragment of the partial mitochondrial ND2 gene.The new species is the highest Gekko with elevation range from 2000 to 2476 m.Further surveys are recommended to better understand the occurrence and population status of the new species.

Description of a New Species of Amolops Cope, 1865(Amphibia: Ranidae) from Nepal and Nomenclatural Validation of Amolops nepalicus Yang, 1991

A new species,Amolops mahabharatensis sp.nov.,is described from Mahabharat range(middle mountain)of Nepal.The new species is a member of the A.marmoratus group and is distinguished from its congeners using morphological and molecular data.The new species is diagnosed by having numerous warts on dorsum and flanks,dorsal body greyish olivebrown/light brown,presence of vomerine teeth series,presence of a pair of subgular vocal sacs in males and tadpole withⅢ:5+5/1+1:Ⅱ–labial tooth row.In addition,evidenced by the phylogenetic and morphological analyses in this study,Amolops nepalicus is shown to be a valid species.A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 16 S ribosomal gene for six members of the A.marmoratus group suggested that the new species is sister to a clade containing A.nepalicus and A.panhai.The uncorrected genetic divergences between the new species and its closest congeners A.nepalicus,A.panhai and A.marmoratus based on 16 S rRNA gene were 10.5%,11.6%,and 8.6%respectively.The new species showed wide distribution in the Mahabharat range of Nepal.

A New Species of Megophryid Frog of the Genus Scutiger from Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, Eastern Nepal

This study investigated the systematics of the megophryid genus Scutiger from eastern and western Nepal using molecular and morphological data. Our results support two divergent lineages, one of which has nuptial spines on the dorsal surface of the first three fingers while the other has spines only on the dorsal surface of the first two fingers. The Ghunsa lineage from eastern Nepal shows significant morphological and molecular differences to other species of genus Scutiger and is here described as a new species. Based on the molecular analysis, the Muktinath lineage from western Nepal is confirmed to be Scutiger boulengeri and represents a species complex widespread throughout the Himalayan region. The newly described taxon is endemic to the eastern Himalayas and currently known only from the Ghunsa valley, Taplejung district, Nepal.

A Rapid, Non-invasive Method for Anatomical Observations of Tadpole Vertebrae in Vivo

The tadpole is a critical stage in the amphibian life cycle and plays an important role during the transition from the aquatic to the terrestrial stage. However, there is a large gap in tadpole research, which represents a vital component of our understanding of the diversity and complexity of the life history traits of amphibians, especially their developmental biology. Some aspects of this gap are due to limited research approaches. To date, X-ray microcomputed tomography （micro-CT） has been widely used to conduct osteology research in adult amphibians and reptiles, but little is known about whether this tool can be applied in tadpole studies. Thus, we compared the results of two methods （the bone-cartilage double-staining technique and micro-CT） to study vertebrae in tadpole specimens. The results revealed no significant difference between the two methods in determining the number of vertebrae, and micro-CT represents a rapid, non-invasive, reliable method of studying tadpole vertebrae. When scanning tadpoles, voltage is the most critical of the scanning parameters （voltage, current and scan time）, and moderate scanning parameters are recommended. In addition, micro-CT performed better using specimens stored in 70% ethanol than those preserved in 10% formalin. Finally, we suggest that micro-CT should be more widely applied in herpetological research to increase specimen utilization.