Habitat restoration is the greatest challenge for population recovery of Hainan gibbons(Nomascus hainanus)

Hainan gibbons are among the world’s most critically endangered primates,with a remaining population of only 35 individuals distributed across 5 social groups in the Bawangling Branch of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park,China.Habitat conversion and forest fragmentation over the past 40 years have reduced their geographical distribution by 95%.In the absence of a quantitative assessment of the availability of remaining suitable habitat,it is unclear whether this species can survive to the end of this century.We used behavioral observations,ArcGIS,remote sensing,stereo optical imagery,and MaxEnt modeling to identify patterns of Hainan gibbon range use and compare changes in the distribution of suitable forest types and areas of forest fragmentation over the past 20 years(2000–2020).The results indicate that the combined range of the 5 extant Hainan gibbon groups totaled 14.89 km2.The home range of the smallest group(Group E,3 individuals)was 1.51 km2,which likely represents the minimum home range size for this species.The remaining area of highly suitable and moderately suitable habitat totals 26.9 km2.However,habitat connectivity across the gibbon range is very low(less than 0.5),limiting the ability of Hainan gibbons to move between forest patches.The results of this study indicate that the availability of suitable habitat in Bawangling is insufficient to allow for future Hainan gibbon population growth.Therefore,immediate action must be taken to restore,reforest,and establish ecological corridors to reconnect areas of suitable habitat for these critically endangered gibbons.

Description of a new species of the genus Rana (Anura: Ranidae) from western Guizhou, China, integrating morphological and molecular genetic data

The diversity of the brown frog genus Rana may be underestimated as the high similarity of morphological characters.In this study,a new species of Rana from Guizhou Province,China is described,namely Rana zhijinensis Luo,Xiao&Zhou,sp.nov.Molecular phylogenetic analyses clustered the new species into the R.japonica group of Rana and significant morphological characters can be distinguished from the 11 recognized species of the R.japonica group.This description increases the number of recognized Rana to 57 species and the R.japonica group to 12 species,and increases our knowledge of the diversity of the genus Rana.

A new species of the genus Tylototriton (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae) from the Eastern Dalou Mountains in Guizhou, China

A new newt species,Tylototriton daloushanensis Zhou,Xiao&Luo,sp.nov.,is described from Guizhou,China,based on phylogenetic and morphological analyses.Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial 16S and ND2 genes show that the new species is an independent lineage closely related to T.maolanensis,T.broadoridgus,T.dabienicus,T.anhuiensis,and T.wenxianensis.Morphologically,the new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters:(1)large body size(SVL 64.7–83.6 mm in male and 70.5–100.3 mm in female);(2)head longer than wide,prominent bony ridges present;(3)snout rounded in dorsal view;(4)tail length less than snoutvent length in both males and females;(5)dark black body coloration,except for bright orange cranial region,palms and soles,vent region,and ventral ridge of tail;(6)relative length of toes Ⅲ>Ⅳ>Ⅱ>Ⅰ>Ⅴ;(7)fingertips reaching to between the eyes and nostrils when the forelimbs are stretched forward;(8)distal tip of the limbs greatly overlapping when the fore and hind limbs are pressed along the trunk;(9)presence of gular fold;(10)vertebral ridge slightly segmented,slightly flattened rib nodules,indistinct interspaces between rib nodules;and(11)lacking orange color markings on posterior parotoids and rib nodules.The found of the new species suggests that the species diversity of the genus Tylototriton may be underestimated.