Zhangixalus wui

species of amphibian

The Lichuan tree frog (Zhangixalus wui) is a frog. It lives in China. Scientists have only seen it in one place: Hanchi Village in Hubei Province.[2][3][1][4]

Zhangixalus wui
VU (IUCN3.1Q)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Genus: Zhangixalus
Species:
Z. wui
Binomial name
Zhangixalus wui
(Li, Liu, Chen, Wu, Murphy, Zhao, Wang, and Zhang, 2012)
Synonyms[2]
  • Rhacophorus wui Li, Liu, Chen, Wu, Murphy, Zhao, Wang, and Zhang, 2012
  • Zhangixalus wui Jiang, Jiang, Ren, Wu, and Li, 2019

Appearance

change

The adult male frog is about 35.2–38.2 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 48.6 mm long. This frog can be dark yellow-brown to light green in color on the back and sides. It has light brown spots that are dark yellow-brown on the edges. Frogs that live in grass tend to be greener than those that live in mud. The belly is cream-white with gray marks. The sides of the legs can be light red-white with gray marks. The insides of the back legs are white with brown spots. There are round disks on the toes for climbing.[4]

People have seen male frogs sitting on plants near ponds. The female frog lays eggs in the water, on moss, or on other plants. Scientists think the eggs hatch into tadpoles, like with other frogs in Chirixalus.

People have seen this frog between 1550 and 2000 meters above sea level.[1]

Danger

change

Scientists think this frog is at some risk of dying out because it only lives in one place and they do not think it lives anywhere else. Human beings cut down the forests where it lives to build roads. Chemicals meant to grow crops and chemicals meant to kill farm pests can also kill this frog, but as of 2021, there are not many of these chemicals near where the frog lives.[1]

Scientists named this frog after amphibian scientist Guan-fu Wu.[4]

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2019). "Lichuan Treefrog: Zhangixalus wui". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 3.1. p. e.T88095621A122177357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T88095621A122177357.en. 88095621. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Frost, Darrel R. "Zhangixalus wui (Li, Liu, Chen, Wu, Murphy, Zhao, Wang, and Zhang, 2012)". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. "Zhangixalus wui (Li, Liu, Chen, Wu, Murphy, Zhao, Wang & Zhang, 2012)". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Li J-T; Liu J; Chen Y-Y; Wu J-W; Murphy RW; Zhao E-M; Wang Y-Z; Zhang Y-P (2012). "Molecular phylogeny of treefrogs in the Rhacophorus dugritei species complex (Anura: Rhacophoridae), with descriptions of two new species". Zool J Linnean Soc (full text). 165: 143–162. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00790.x. Retrieved May 4, 2023.