''Gracixalus trieng'', also known as the Trieng tree frog or Trieng bushfrog, is a species of frog 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 ...
.
[ It is ]endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to Vietnam and is only known from the area of its type locality, Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve in Đắk Glei District, Kon Tum Province.[ Mount Ngoc Linh and adjacent peaks form an isolated high-elevation area and the species is unlikely to exist elsewhere.]
Etymology
The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
''trieng'' refers to the local Trieng people who assisted the describers of this species in their field work.
Description
Adult males measure 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 ...
(SVL). Adult females are unknown; two juveniles measured in SVL. The body is robust. The snout is rounded. The tympanum and supratympanic fold are distinct. The fingers are narrow and bear well-developed discs; there is basal webbing between the fingers II–IV. The toes bear well-developed discs and are webbed. Skin texture varies from almost completely smooth to having scattered low tubercles. The typical diurnal coloration is dark brown dorsally and dark pinkish brown ventrally, with distinct dark brown dorsal markings, where the typical nocturnal coloration is mostly pale yellow dorsally and pale pink ventrally, without the distinct dorsal markings.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 ...
.
Habitat
''Gracixalus trieng'' inhabits montane evergreen forest at elevations of above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
; searches at lower elevations did not reveal this species. All adult males were found in tree holes, the breeding habitat of this species. Also juvenile frogs are arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...
.
Conservation
As of November 2021, this species has not been included in 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 ...
.[ However, Rowley and colleagues suggest that it would qualify as "]endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
" because of its restricted range (extent of occurrence likely less than 1000 km2), within which deforestation leading to habitat loss is occurring.
Further reading
* — Includes photographs of the frog and its habitat
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q98605733
trieng
Amphibians of Vietnam
Endemic fauna of Vietnam
Amphibians described in 2020
Taxa named by Jodi Rowley