''Buergeria choui'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

. Prior to its

description Description is the pattern of narrative development that aims to make vivid a place, object, character, or group. Description is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...

in 2020, it was confused with ''

Buergeria japonica ''Buergeria'' is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae, and the sole genus of subfamily Buergeriinae. They are the sister taxon for all the other rhacophorids (subfamily Rhacophorinae). This position is firmly supported by the available e ...

''. It is found in northwestern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and in the southern part of the

Ryukyu Archipelago The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara, Amami Islands, Amami, Okinawa Islands, Okinawa, and Sakis ...

, Japan, specifically on the

Yaeyama Islands The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa ...

. Common name Yaeyama Kajika frog has been proposed for it. The specific name ''choui'' honors Wen-Hao Chou from the

National Museum of Natural Science The National Museum of Natural Science () is a national museum in North District, Taichung, Taiwan. Overview The museum covers and is a six-venue complex housing: the Space Theater, Science Center, Life Science Hall, Human Cultures Hall, Gl ...

(Taiwan), the first person to pay attention to the variation within the former ''Buergeria japonica''.

Distribution

''Buergeria choui'' is known from

Iriomote is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — ov ...

and

Ishigaki Island , also known as ''Ishigakijima'', is a Japanese island south-west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group, behind Iriomote Island. It is located approximately south-west of Okinawa Hontō. It is within the ...

s in the Southern Ryukyus and from the northwestern parts of Taiwan. The former ''Buergeria japonica'' elsewhere in Taiwan represent an undescribed species, while the true ''B. japonica'' is now considered a Central Ryukyus endemic.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. The snout is truncate. The tympanum is conspicuous; the supratympanic fold is evident. The forelimbs are moderate. The fingers have no webbing but have tips expanded into small discs. The hindlimbs are slender and very long. The toes have fleshy webbing. Skin is dorsally rough with scattered tubercles and ridges. Ground color of the body is highly variable, from yellowish brown and grayish brown to deep brown. There is a dark brown interorbital bar followed by dark cruciform pattern. The throat is creamy yellow. The chest and abdomen are cream. The limbs have dark crossbars. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

is golden. Males have a single internal subgular

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...

. The male advertisement call are emitted in succession and consist of various combinations of notes with various intervals, ranging from a very short ones (including just one pulse) through short

trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware custom ...

s or whistles to long trills. The long trill lasts 1–2.3 seconds.

Tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s of

Gosner stage Gosner stage is a generalized system of describing stages of embryonal and larval development in anurans (frogs and toads). The Gosner system includes 46 numbered stages, from fertilized embryo (stage 1) to the completion of metamorphosis (stage ...

s 35–36 measure in total length, of which the lanceolate tail makes about two thirds.

Habitat

''Buergeria choui'' is widely distributed, ranging from coastal lowlands to mountain forests. Breeding takes place in March–November when males can be heard calling near shallow pools, slowly flowing streams, and ditches. The tadpoles are aquatic and tolerate high temperatures.

Conservation

As of late 2020, this species had not yet been assessed for the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. The former ''Buergeria japonica'' was assessed in 2004 as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q98793218 choui Frogs of Asia Amphibians of Japan Amphibians of Taiwan Amphibians described in 2020