Brown Frogs, Rana spp., are found across much of Eurasia and the Americas, with over a hundred species currently recognised. They tend to be small and dull coloured, which can make them difficult to tell apart, and tend to have slim waists, smooth skin, and slender legs. These Frogs typically breed early in spring in temperate regions, and throughout the year in the tropics and subtropics, with females laying large bundles of eggs in standing or slow-moving water, and under the right circumstances can undergo rapid population explosions.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 29 August 2017, Haipeng Zhao of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Kunming College of Life Science at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the School of Life Science at Henan University, Junxiao Yang, also of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the
Kunming College of Life Science at the University of Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Chunping Wang of the Henan Forestry Survey and Planning Institute, Pipeng Li of the Center for Chinese Endemic Herp-breeding and Conservation Research, and Liaoning Key Laboratory of Evolution and Biodiversity at Shenyang Normal University, Robert Murphy, again of the Kunming College of Life Science at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and also of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum, Jing Che, again of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhiyong Yuan of the College of Forestry at the Southwest Forestry University, describe a new species of Brown Frog from Luanchuan County in western Henan Province in central China.
The new species is named Rana luanchuanensis, meaning 'from Luanchuan'. It is a small species, with males reaching 27.2-33.0 mm and females 23.7-41.2 mm. The Frogs are greyish brown in colour, with black, brown and grey markings, and a white belly. They have a distinctive black stripe that runs from the nose back through the line of the eyelids. The species was found living in slow, shallow streams with extensive gravel beds.
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The new species is named Rana luanchuanensis, meaning 'from Luanchuan'. It is a small species, with males reaching 27.2-33.0 mm and females 23.7-41.2 mm. The Frogs are greyish brown in colour, with black, brown and grey markings, and a white belly. They have a distinctive black stripe that runs from the nose back through the line of the eyelids. The species was found living in slow, shallow streams with extensive gravel beds.
Rana luanchuanensis, live specimen. Zhao et al. (2017).
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