''Polypedates leucomystax'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the shrub frog

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs 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 known as ...

. It is known under numerous

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s, including common tree frog, four-lined tree frog, golden tree frog or striped tree frog. Many past authors have united it with the common Indian tree frog in '' P. maculatus'' (or ''Rhacophorus maculatus'', as was common in older times), but today they are generally considered distinct species. In its native range, it is also called "

white-lipped tree frog The white-lipped tree frog (''Nyctimystes infrafrenatus'') is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae. It is the world's largest tree frog (the Cuban tree frog reaches a similar maximum size) and is found in Australia. Other common n ...

", but this name is otherwise applied to a species of true tree frogs (family

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as " tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

). ''Polypedates leucomystax'' is not considered a

threatened species A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. It is, in fact a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

containing various

cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

within it.

Range

Previously, ''P. leucomystex'' was thought to distribute below the Red River of Vietnam and in western

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, while '' P. megacephalus'' can be found above the Red River and in

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. However, recent genetic studies revealed that the natural barriers between these species are the

Isthmus of Kra The Kra Isthmus (, ; ), also called the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailan ...

and the Tenasserim Range, where ''P. leucomystax'' can be found below the isthmus and west of the range. The ''Polypedates leucomystax'' complex began diverging during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

due to human activity. The range of ''P. leucomystax'' has recently expanded in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

due to the widespread conversion of forests into agricultural-use land. It is also frequently found in trans-island agricultural shipments. Lineages on the

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

mainland are more diverse. In Indonesia, it has been found throughout the archipelago in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, Mentawai,

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Lombok Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

Natuna Islands Natuna Regency is an islands regency located in the northernmost part of the Province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. It contains at least 154 islands, of which 127 of them are reported as uninhabited. This archipelago, with a land area of 1,978.4 ...

Anambas Islands Anambas Islands Regency () is an island regency (Indonesia), regency in the Riau Islands, Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, located in the Natuna Sea. The regency consists of 255 islands, including five List of outlying islands of Indonesia, out ...

Sumbawa Sumbawa, is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...

Sumba Sumba (; ), natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba (in Sumba languages) is an Indonesian island (part of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago group) located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara pro ...

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

, and

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

, and has also been introduced to Papua. In Japan, where it has been introduced, it is found on the islands of

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Tonaki,

Kurima Kurima is a village and municipality in the Bardejov District in the Prešov Region of north-east Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1270. Geography The municipality lies at an altitude of and covers an ...

, Miyako, Ie, Iheya, Izena, Sesoko, and Yabuchi. 4 major

haplotype A haplotype (haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent. Many organisms contain genetic material (DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA orga ...

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s of ''P. leucomystax'' have been recognized by Brown, et al. (2010), with the clades other than the southern Sunda region clade likely to be

. *southern Sunda region:

–

("true" ''P. leucomystax''; type locality:

) *northern Sunda region:

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

, northern

(

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

and

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

), and southern Philippines (most basal clade) *

(with the name ''P. celebensis'' sp. nov. suggested; 4 different sub-clades have been differentiated for each of the 4 "prongs" or peninsulas of Sulawesi Island) * northern Philippines (with the name ''P. quadrilineatus'' sp. nov. suggested; includes a basal variety from

) Divergent varieties that are either ''P. cf. leucomystax'' or '' P. cf. megacephalus'' have been found in

southern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone between ...

(including

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

) and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s, subtropical or tropical moist

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s, intermittent rivers, freshwater

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes, freshwater springs, rocky shores, coastal freshwater

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

, pastureland,

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s, rural gardens,

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s, water storage areas,

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, aquaculture ponds, irrigated land, seasonally flooded agricultural land, and introduced vegetation.

Description

''Polypedates leucomystax'' can reach approximately a

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 mos ...

of in males, and in females. Body of these rather small shrub frogs is moderately slender, ovoid, slightly flattened above, with sharply pointed tail. The skin on the upper side is smooth. The body colour is rather variable, with various shades of gray, green, yellow, reddish or dark brown. Usually it is irregularly mottled, often with four stripes along the back. The tip of snout sometimes shows a distinct white spot. Eyes are at the side of the head. The hind feet are webbed. The feet have clear, large cushions as usual with leaf frogs.

Biology

In the damp areas of the propagation, these frogs are present all year round. In drier environments, the period usually restricts to the beginning of the rainy season. The mating takes place at the margins of shallow pools, where the males first arrive and call the females with a distinctive loud, duck-like sound. The female places between 100 and 400 eggs in a protective foam nest that is attached to vegetation or other objects above the water surface. Mean egg diameter is 1.99mm (range of 1.9-2.1mm). The eggs hatch after 3 to 4 days. The tadpoles develop inside the foam nest and then fall into the water. They develop into adult frogs in about 7 weeks.

In captivity

This species of tree frog is commonly kept in captivity in vivariums and terrariums by both hobbyists and professionals.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2277171 Polypedates Frogs of Asia Amphibians of Bangladesh Amphibians of Malaysia Amphibians of Myanmar Amphibians of Nepal Amphibians of Thailand Amphibians of the Philippines Amphibians of Vietnam Amphibians described in 1829 Taxa named by Johann Ludwig Christian Gravenhorst Least concern biota of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot