Mountain creature with ‘burly' fingers found in China park. It's a new species
Visiting scientists spotted the 'horned' animal — and discovered a new species.
A team of researchers hiked into the mountains of Daxueshan Nature Reserve in June 2023 to survey amphibians. The nature reserve sat within 'a global hotspot for amphibian diversity,' so the team expected to find some interesting animals, according to a study published July 3 in the peer-reviewed Biodiversity Data Journal.
Sure enough, during their nighttime surveys, researchers found a few unfamiliar-looking frogs along a 'stream edge.' Intrigued, they took a closer look at the frogs, analyzed their DNA and realized they were a new species: Boulenophrys daxuemontis, or the Daxueshan horned toad.
Daxueshan horned toads are considered 'moderate'-sized, reaching about 1.6 inches in length, the study said. They have 'flat' heads, 'pointed' snouts and 'large' eyes. Their eyelids have a 'single horn-like' bump on the edge. Their arms and legs are 'slender,' and their fingers are 'burly.'
Photos show the 'rough' texture and coloring of the new species. Overall, the toads vary from light brown to orange-brown to yellow-brown but all have an upside-down triangle marking on their heads.
Daxueshan horned toads were found 'on stones in the streams' of a mountain forest at elevations of about 4,600 to 5,000 feet, the study said. One area had 'a gravel-bottomed streambed with loud flowing water.'
No female Daxueshan horned toads were found, and much about the new species remains unknown.
Researchers said they named the new species after Daxue Mountain where it was first discovered and, so far, the only place where it has been found. The park sits on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southern China.
The new species was identified by its body size, texture, finger and toe shape, limb length and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 4% genetic divergence from related toad species.
The research team included Jing Liu, Shize Li, Yanlin Cheng, Gang Wei, Bin Wang and Gang Cheng.
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