A New Species of the Genus Tylototriton(Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae) from the Southern Dabie Mountains in Anhui Province

A new species of the genus Tylototriton is described,from Yuexi county,Anhui province,in the south of the Dabie Mountains.It is based on morphological and molecular analysis.The new species is identified as belonging to the Tylototriton asperrimus group and shares a number of similarities with T.wenxianensis,T.broadoridgus and T.dabienicus.The diagnostic characteristics of the new species are as follows： the head length is greater than the width of the head; bony ridges on the head are prominent and necked-in; the distal digit ends,ventral digits,peripheral area of the cloaca and the tail＇s lower edge are orange.The result from the molecular analysis of the genus Tylototriton（including the type specimen of the new species） based on three mitochondrial genes（ND1,ND2 and CYTB） indicated that the new species was close to T.wenxianensis,T.dabienicus,and T.broadoridgus,but formed an independent clade.This result was consistent with the morphological analysis above,which supports the theory that the population distributed in the south of the Dabie Mountains,namely in from Yuexi county,Anhui province,represented a distinct species,Tylototriton anhuiensis sp.nov.

A New Species of the Genus Rhacophorus (Anura： Rhacophoridae) from Dabie Mountains in East China

A new species of rhacophorid of the genus Rhacophorus is described from the Dabie Mountains of west Anhui, east China. The new species, Rhacophorus zhoukaiyae sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters： 1） the ventral surface and front-and-rear of the femur is paler yellowish and decorated with irregular grayish blotching, and without obvious spots on the dorsum of the hand and foot webbing; 2） the outer metatarsal tubercle is small; 3） outer fingers are half-webbed and outer toes two third webbed; 4） the skin on the dorsum is smooth and without compressed warts; 5） the throat, chest and belly are pure paler yellowish; 6） the dorsal part of the fingers and toes are grayish-white; 7） the iris is golden-yellow. In addition, the phylogenetic tree showed that all the individuals of R. zhoukaiyae sp. nov. clustered into one distinct clade which suggested the validity of this species. This results could also be used to the support of species delimitation. Currently, this species is known only from mid-elevation montane evergreen forest in the Dabie Mountains of west Anhui, China.

Male mate choice in Tibetan macaques Macaca thibetana at Mt.Huangshan,China

Though females are generally more selective in mate choice, males may also benefit from mate choice if male reproductivesuccess is limited by factors other than simply the number of female mates, and if females differ in short-term reproductivepotential. We studied male mate choice in a free-ranging troop of Tibetan macaques Macaco thibetana at Mt. Huangshan,China, from August 2007 to April 2008. We employed focal animal sampling and all occurrence sampling to record sexual relatedbehaviors. Eight adult females were divided into three female quality categories according to the females' age, rank and parity.Using male mating effort as a proxy for male mate choice, we found that males do distinguish female quality and showtime-variant mating strategies. Specifically, females with dominant rank, high fecundity, and middle age attracted significantlymore males. Our results suggest that female short-term reproductive potential appears to be an important variable in determiningmale mating effort. Male Tibetan macaques do exercise mate choice for higher quality females as well as reduce useless reproductivecost, which is consistent with the direct benefits theory of mate

A New Species of the Genus Xenophrys(Amphibia: Anura: Megophryidae) from Libo County, Guizhou, China

A new species of the genus Xenophrys is described from a karst cave environment of Libo County, Guizhou Province, Southern China. The new species, Xenophrys liboensis sp. nov., is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters： 1） tympanum distinct; 2） vomerine teeth present; 3） the length of lower arm and hand larger than the half of snout-vent; 4） heels overlapped slightly when the flexed legs are held at right angles to the body axis; 5） toe tips with rudimentary webs and without grooves; 6） dermal fringes moderate; 7） tubercles on the dorsum forming an X-shaped weak ridge; 8） horn-like tubercle at the edge of the upper eyelid distinct; 9） color of the iris in life is brown. In Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of 22 species of Xenophrys, all the individuals of X. liboensis sp. nov. clustered into a monophyletic clade with high posterior probabilities. In addition, the ranges of genetic divergences of X. liboensis sp. nov. with other species were interspecific rather than intraspecific. Based on the above evidences, we consider that X. liboensis sp. nov. is a valid species in Xenophrys.

Genetic structure of the oriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana): implications for a breeding colony in a non-breeding area

The oriental white stork (Ciconia boyciana) is a threatened species, and their numbers are still in decline due tohabitat loss and poaching. China is a breeding and main wintering area for this animal and in recent years someindividuals have been found breeding in wintering areas and at some stopover sites. These new breeding coloniesare an exciting sign, however, little is understood of the genetic structure of this species. Based on the analysis ofa 463-bp mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region, we investigated the genetic structure and genetic diversity of66 wild oriental white storks from a Chinese population. We analyzed the sequences of 66 storks obtained in thisstudy and the data of 17 storks from a Japanese population. Thirty-seven different haplotypes were detected amongthe 83 samples. An analysis of molecular variance showed a significant population subdivision between the twopopulations (FST = 0.316, P < 0.05). However, the phylogenetic analysis revealed that the samples from the differentpopulations did not form separate clusters and that there were genetic exchanges between the two populations.Compared with the Japanese population, the Chinese population had a relatively higher genetic diversity with ahaplotype diversity (h ± SD) of 0.953 ± 0.013 and a nucleotide diversity (π ± SD) of 0.013 ± 0.007. The high haplotypediversity and low nucleotide diversity indicate that this population might be in a rapidly increasing period from asmall effective population. A neighbor-joining tree analysis indicated that genetic exchange had occurred betweenthe newly arisen southern breeding colony and the northern breeding colony wintering in the middle and lowerYangtze River floodplain. These results have important implications for the conservation of the oriental white storkpopulation in China.