genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
. Its
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 are adapted to fast-flowing mountain streams and easily recognizable by their divided upper lip with ribs on the outside.Stuart (2008)
Taxonomy and systematics
Its closest living relative is apparently the
hole-in-the-head frog
The hole-in-the-head frog (''Huia cavitympanum'') is a species of frog in the family Ranidae.
It is found on the island of Borneo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane fore ...
(''Huia cavitympanum''),
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
wastebin genus
Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...
" '' Huia''. ''Meristogenys'', having been proposed far more recently than ''Huia'', might be included in the latter on grounds of
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
, as most if not all
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
placed in the ''Huia'' seem to belong elsewhere. But a group of species traditionally placed in ''Huia'' as well as the genus ''
Clinotarsus
''Clinotarsus'' is a genus of ranid frogs. Members of this genus are found in India and Southeast Asia.
Species
There are three species recognised in the genus ''Clinotarsus'':
References
True frogs
Amphibians of Asia
Amphibian gene ...
'' are very close relatives, and therefore a
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
revision of this group is probably better deferred until the relationships of all taxa involved have been properly assessed.Cai ''et al.'' (2007), Stuart (2008) ''Meristogenys'' on its own is a
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
group.
Ecology
''Meristogenys'' are common frogs around the mountain streams of Borneo and among the commonest frogs in the mountainous regions of the island.
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 are specialized for living in strong currents and have a heavy body. The snout is broadly rounded with a relatively oral disk underneath it. The body is flat below and has a large sucker, covering a larger portion of the abdomen.
Description
The largest species is '' Meristogenys kinabaluensis''; males reach and females in snout–vent length. Adults of different species are usually morphologically similar and difficult identify to species, and even difficult to distinguish from other ranid frogs, notably ''
Hylarana
''Hylarana'', commonly known as golden-backed frogs, is a genus of true frogs found in tropical Asia. It was formerly considered highly diverse, containing around 84 to 96 Valid name (zoology), valid species, but taxonomic revision resulted in a ...
''. In contrast, and unusually, the tadpoles are easier to identify to species than the adults.
Species
There are 13 species:
Footnotes
References
* (2007): Paraphyly of Chinese ''Amolops'' (Anura, Ranidae) and phylogenetic position of the rare Chinese frog, ''Amolops tormotus''. ''
Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...