Kuhl's creek frog or large-headed frog (''Limnonectes kuhlii'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Dicroglossidae The frog family Dicroglossidae occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa, with most genera and species being found in Asia. The common name of the family is fork-tongued frogs. The Dicroglossidae were previously considered to ...

Species complex

''L. kuhlii'' was once believed to have a broad distribution in Northeast India (

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

) and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, but a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis in 2010 demonstrated that there were at least 16 morphologically similar, but genetically distinct evolutionary lineages subsumed under the name. Already, several populations that were previously identified as ''L. kuhlii'' have been formally described as new species: '' L. fujianensis'' and '' L. bannaensis'' of China, '' L. nguyenorum'' and '' L. quangninhensis'' of Vietnam, '' L. jarujini'', '' L. taylori'', '' L. isanensis'', and '' L. megastomias'' of Thailand, and '' L. sisikdagu'' from Indonesia. The original specimen of ''L. kuhlii'' was found in

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 ...

, and that is the only area where the "true" species occurs with certainty.

Phylogeny

Below is a phylogeny of species within the ''L. kuhlii''

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 ...

(McLeod, et al. 2015).McLeod, Kurlbaum & Hoang, 2015 : ''More of the same: a diminutive new species of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex from northern Vietnam (Anura: Dicroglossidae)''. Zootaxa, No. 3947, .

References

External links

Amphibian and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia - ''Limnonectes kuhlii''
Limnonectes Fauna of Brunei Amphibians of Myanmar Amphibians of Cambodia Amphibians of China Frogs of India Amphibians of Indonesia Amphibians of Laos Amphibians of Malaysia Amphibians of Thailand Amphibians of Vietnam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1838 {{Limnonectes-stub