The Australasian frog family Ceratobatrachidae in China,Myanmar and Thailand:discovery of a new Himalayan forest frog clade

In an effort to study the systematic affinities and species- level phylogenetic relationships of the enigmatic anurans vadably assigned to the genera Ingerana or Limnonectes （family Dicroglossidae）, we collected new molecular sequence data for five species including four Himalayan taxa, Limnonectes xizangensis, Lim. medogensis, Lim. alpine, Ingerana borealis and one southeast Asian species, I. tasanae, and analyzed these together with data from previous studies involving other ostensibly related taxa. Our surprising results demonstrate unequivocally that Lim. xizangensis, Lim. medogensis and Lira. alpine form a strongly supported clade, the sister-group of the family Australasian forest frog family Ceratobatrachidae. This discovery requires an expansion of the definition of Ceratobatrachidae and represents the first record of this family in China. These three species are distinguished from the species of Ingerana and Limnonectes by the： （1） absence of interdigital webbing of the foot, （2） absence of terminal discs on fingers and toes, （3） absence of circumarginal grooves on the fingers and toes, and （4） absence of tarsal folds. Given their phylogenetic and morphological distinctiveness, we assign them to the oldest available generic name for this clade, Liurana Dubois 1987, and transfer Liurana from Dicroglossidae to the family Ceratobatrachidae. In contrast, Ingerana tasanae was found to be clustered with strong support with the recently described genus Alcalus （Ceratobatrachidae）, a small clade of otherwise Sundaic species; this constitutes a new record of the family Ceratobatrachidae for Myanmar and Thailand. Finally, Ingerana borealis clustered with the ＂true＂ Ingerana （family Dicroglossidae）, for which the type species is L tenasserimensis.

Discovery of a wild,genetically pure Chinese giant salamander creates new conservation opportunities

Effective conservation of threatened biota relies on accurate assessments and scientific guidance.As an unfortunate example,Chinese giant salamanders(Andrias,CGS)remain critically endangered in nature.Misguided conservation efforts,e.g.,commercial propagation and releasing of millions of likely non-indigenous or interspecific hybrids,have further compromised conservation initiatives.Limited information on wild populations of CGS poses a significant conservation challenge.Following 18-month long field monitoring,we now report the discovery of a wild population of CGS in a closed nature reserve in Jiangxi Province,China.Genomic assessments reveal its genetic distinctiveness and do not detect genetic admixture with other species.Based on morphological and molecular evidences,we describe this CGS as a new species Andrias jiangxiensis sp.nov.This is the only known species of CGS today with a genetically pure,reproducing,in situ population.This discovery emphasizes the important role that closed nature reserves play in protecting species,and the necessity of integrating long-term field monitoring and genetic assessments.It sets a new pathway for discovering and conserving endangered species,especially for those biotas that are similarly being extirpated by anthropogenic translocations and overexploitation.

AutoSeqMan:batch assembly of contigs for Sanger sequences

With the wide application of DNA sequencing technology, DNA sequences are still increasingly generated through the Sanger sequencing platform. SeqMan （in the LaserGene package） is an excellent program with an easy-to-use graphical user interface （GUI） employed to assemble Sanger sequences into contigs. However, with increasing data size, larger sample sets and more sequenced loci make contig assemble complicated due to the considerable number of manual operations required to run SeqMan. Here, we present the ＇autoSeqMan＇ software program, which can automatedly assemble contigs using SeqMan scripting language. There are two main modules available, namely, ＇Classification＇ and ＇Assembly＇. Classification first undertakes preprocessing work, whereas Assembly generates a SeqMan script to consecutively assemble contigs for the classified files. Through comparison with manual operation, we showed that autoSeqMan saved substantial time in the preprocessing and assembly of Sanger sequences. We hope this tool will be useful for those with large sample sets to analyze, but with little programming experience. It is freely available at https：//github.com/ Sun-Yanbo/autoSeqMan.

A new species of the genus Raorchestes(Anura:Rhacophoridae) from Yunnan Province, China

DEAR EDITOR,A new bush frog species, Raorchestes cangyuanensis sp. nov., from Cangyuan, Yunnan Province, China, is described based on morphological and molecular analyses. It differs from all known congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size small, adult snout-vent length (SVL) 16.1–20.0 mm in males (n=3);tympanum indistinct;tips of all fingers and toes expanded into discs with circummarginal grooves;rudimentary webbing between toes;fingers and toes with lateral dermal fringes;inner and outer metacarpal tubercles present;heels meeting when limbs held at right angles to body;crotch with a distinct black patch;discs of fingers and toes orange;male with external single subgular vocal sac and reddish nuptial pad at the base of first finger.

A new species of the genus Xenophrys(Anura:Megophryidae) from northern Thailand

DEAR EDITOR,Species of Xenophrys are conserved morphologically and live primarily in forests. In Thailand, the genus harbors many cryptic species. Herein we report the collection of specimens from Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand, which were identified previously as X. minor. Molecular and morphological analyses find that these specimens differ significantly from other known congeners, and therefore we describe a new species. Further, our phylogenetic analyses indicate that X. latidactyla is a junior synonym of X. palpebralespinosa.

Was chicken domesticated in northern China?New evidence from mitochondrial genomes

The timing and location of chicken(Gallus gallus domesticus)domestication have remained controversial for over a century[1].Several researchers have proposed China as one of the early centers for chicken domestication[2].This is based on a few archaeological‘‘chicken"remains discovered in China(Table S1).Recently,one investigation detected mitochondrial DNA(mt DNA)haplotypes

Genetic variation and cryptic lineage diversity of the Nigerian red-headed rock agama Agama agama associate with eco-geographic zones

Nigeria is an Afrotropical region with considerable ecological heterogeneity and levels of biotic endemism.Among its vertebrate fauna,reptiles have broad distributions,thus,they constitute a compelling system for assessing the impact of ecological variation and geographic isolation on species diversification.The red-headed rock agama,Agama agama,lives in a wide range of habitats and,thus,it may show genetic structuring and diversification.Herein,we tested the hypothesis that ecology affects its genetic structure and population divergence.Bayesian inference phylogenetic analysis of a mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA)gene recovered four well-supported matrilines with strong evidence of genetic structuring consistent with eco-geographic regions.Genetic differences among populations based on the mtDNA also correlated with geographic distance. The ecologicalniche model for the matrilines had a good fit and robust performance. Population divergence alongthe environmental axes was associated with climatic conditions, and temperature ranked highestamong all environmental variables for forest specialists, while precipitation ranked highest for theforest/derived savanna, and savanna specialists. Our results cannot reject the hypothesis that nicheconservatism promotes geographic isolation of the western populations of Nigerian A. agama.Thus, ecological gradients and geographic isolation impact the genetic structure and population divergenceof the lizards. This species might be facing threats due to recent habitat fragmentation,especially in western Nigeria. Conservation actions appear necessary.