Ansonia latirostra Grismer, 2006, sp. n.
Creators: name: Grismer, L. Lee
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2006
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Bufonidae
Ansonia
Ansonia latirostra

description: Ansonia latirostra sp. n.
Figures 2–3.
Holotype. ZRC 1.11559 (Fig. 2), an adult female from the Sungai Lembing logging camp (3° 52.26” N, 103° 3’.13” E), Pahang, Malaysia collected at 255 m elevation on 1 August 2002 by J. A. McGuire, J. L. Grismer, R. Escobar, P. L. Wood, Norsham, S. Y., and T. M. Youmans.
Paratypes. All seven paratypes (Fig. 2) were collected at the same locality as the holotype. ZRC 1.11560 (adult male) and ZRC 1.11561 and 1.11562 (adult females) were collected on 1 August 2002; ZRC 1.11563 (adult male) and ZRC 1.11564 and 1.11565 (adult females) were collected on 2 August 2002; ZRC 1.11566 (adult male) was collected on 3 August 2002.
Diagnosis. A small species (males reaching 23.6 mm SVL; females reaching 30.5 mm SVL); snout projecting beyond lower jaw; head relatively wide (HW/SVL, 0.30–0.32 in males; 0.27–0.30 in females); snout wide (SW/SVL, 0.17–0.19 in males; 0.14–0.16 in females and SW/HW, 0.56–0.59 in males and 0.52–0.55 in females); tympanum visible; large, yellow rictal gland; finger tips rounded; first finger not reaching disk of second; tuberculate, interorbital ridges present; warts on the dorsum and flanks enlarged; moderately enlarged row of dorsolateral tubercles present; 1–2 phalanges of third and fifth toe free of webbing; no tarsal ridge; subarticular tubercles weak to absent; a single vocal slit on either side of floor of buccal cavity in males; iris golden brown.
available in literature. m=male.
finger tips rounded or forming small discs (1) or 0 1 1 1 expanded and espatulate (0)
toe tips rounded or forming small discs (1) or 1 1 0 1 expanded and espatulate (0)
submadibular tubercles in males present (1) or 1 1 1 / absent (0)
dorsal tubercles present (1) or absent (0) 1,2 1,2 0,1 1
dorsolateral row of enlarged tubercles present (1) 0 0 0 0 or absent (0)
rows of tubercles on back (1) or not (0) 0 0 0 0
oblique flap of skin on each side of vent (1) or not 0 0 0 0 (0)
abdomen coarsely granular (1), finely granular (2) 1 1 / 1 or tuberculate (0)
light spot between scapulae present (1) or not (0) 0 0 / 0
light crossbars on hind limbs present (1) or absent 1 1 0 1 (0)
Description of holotype. Adult female, 26.4 mm SVL; head, body, limbs, and digits slender; head wider than body, both relatively flat; low interorbital ridges present; snout wide (SW/SVL 0.16), square (SW/HW 0.55) in dorsal profile, projecting beyond lower jaw, sloping posteroventrally to mandibular symphysis; top of snout concave, width greater than interorbital width; tip of snout laterally constricted with distinct vertical ridge on anterior margin; canthi rounded, weakly constricted; lores vertical; head width immediately anterior to eye slightly less than head width above tympanum; eye diameter 69% of snout lenght; interorbital space wider than width of upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, circular, 54% of horizontal diameter of eye; cranial crests absent; parotoids absent; 2–3 rows of small spinose tubercles below mandibles, 4–6 rows in mental region.
Fingers long, slender, not webbed, tips narrowly rounded, not wider than other phalanges nor forming discs; first finger shorter than second, tip not reaching base of tip of second when digits adpressed; subarticular tubercles absent; large outer palmar tubercle; weakly developed, low, elongate, inner palmar tubercle barely visible; toes long, slender, tips narrowly rounded not wider than other phalanges nor forming discs; first toe fully webbed to just beyond base of disc with one­half phalanx free; second toe with one phalanx free of web; third and fifth toes with 1.5 phalanges free; fourth toe with three, free phalanges; no web on external surfaces of first and fifth toes; subarticular tubercles absent; inner metatarsal tubercle low, elongate, and rounded; outer metatarsal tubercle two­thirds size of inner, conical, distinctly raised; no tarsal ridge.
Dorsal and lateral surfaces of head, body, and limbs covered with large, round tubercles most of which bear a brown, non­keratinized, tip; single row of moderately enlarged, dorsolateral tubercles; tubercles clustered into a large, laterally protruding bulge in scapular region; enlarged tubercles in temporal region; single, large tuberculate rictal gland gland one­half to two­thirds size of tympanum.
Coloration. In life, dorsal surfaces nearly uniformly black with faint, dull­brown reticulum and interscapular spot; flanks nearly uniform black except two, dull­brown spots posteriorly; small, cream­colored spot below eye; upper portions of forelimbs creamcolored, distal portions sparsely spotted; hind limbs have thin, yellow bands composed of closely spaced spots; venter gray with widely spaced, small spots; iris golden brown.
Paratypes. male paratypes (ZRC 1.11560, 1.11563, 1.11566) range from 20.4–23.6 mm SVL (Table 2), vocal slit on the right (ZRC 1.11560, 1.11563) or left (ZRC 1.11566) side of the floor of the mouth. ZRC 1.11566 and 1.11563 have nuptial pads on proximal half of first digit. Nuptial pads absent on smallest male (ZRC 1.11560, SVL 20.4 mm), presumably a juvenile. Males closely match holotype in coloration and pattern. Female paratypes (ZRC 1.11561, 1.11564, 1.11565, and 1.11562) range in size from 25.4–30.5 mm SVL (Table 2), closely match holotype in coloration and pattern except ZRC 1.11564 and 1.11565 lack a light­colored interscapular spot. Banding on hind limbs of ZRC 1.11565 not as bold as that on holotype. Females may have slightly larger tympani (TD/ SVL 0.05–0.07 in females vs. 0.5–0.6 in males). Males have significantly (p <0.01) wider heads (HW/SVL 0.30–0.32, x =0.31), wider snouts (SW/SVL 0.17–0.19, x =0.18 and SW/ HW 0.56–0.59, x =0.57), and longer heads (HL/SVL 0.32–0.33, x =0.33) than females (HW/SVL 0.27–0.30, x =0.28; SW/SVL 0.14–0.16, x =0.15; SW/HW 0.52–0.55, x =0.54; HL/SVL 0.27–0.31, x =0.30). No females were gravid. Selected morphometric ratios are presented in Table 2.
Comparisons. Ansonia latirostra differs from all other species of Ansonia except Ansonia endauensis., A. inthanon, A. kraensis, A. malayana, and A, minuta in that the males are less than 24 mm SVL. Females differ from all other species except Ansonia endauensis., A. inthanon, A. kraensis, A. malayana, A, minuta, A. ornata, and A. platysoma in having a SVL less than 31 mm. Ansonia latirostra has a snout that projects beyond the lower jaw which differentiates it from A. fuliginea, A. guibei, and A. latidisca whose snouts are much more truncate in lateral profile. In A. latirostra, the tympanum is distinctly visible whereas in A. mcgregori, A. muelleri, and A. siamensis it is obscured beneath the skin and in A. anotis it is absent. Ansonia latirostra and A. maylayana are the only species having a large, rictal gland. Ansonia latirostra have low, tuberculate, interorbital ridges unlike all other species except A. glandulosa, A. latidisca, some A.
leptopus (rarely), and some A. longidigita (rarely) which also have interorbital ridges. Male A. latirostra have a vocal slit on the right or left side as in A. albomaculata and A. muelleri. Ansonia anotis and A. guibei lack vocal sacs whereas they are present in male A. latirostra. The finger and toe tips of A. latirostra are round and unexpanded unlike the fingers of A. anotis, A. hanitschi, A. latidisca, A. minuta, A. siamensis, and the toes of A. hanitschi and A. ornata whose tips are dilated to form espatulate discs. Ansonia latirostra is differentiated from A. glandulosa, A. guibei, A. leptopus, A. longidigita, A. penangensis, A. platysoma, and A. spinulifer by having a relatively short first finger that does not reach the disc of the second finger when the digits are adpressed, whereas in the latter species, it does. Ansonia albomaculata, A. mcgregori, A. minuta, A. muelleri, and A. penangensis have a tarsal ridge (relatively weak in A. penangensis) which is lacking in A. latirostra. Ansonia latirostra has a very low, rounded, inner and outer metatarsal tubercles which separates it from A. fuliginea, A. leptopus, A. platysoma, A. siamensis, and A. spinulifer which lack the inner tubercle. Male A. latirostra have submandibular tubercles which are lacking in male A. albomaculata, A. anotis, A. mcgregori, A. platysoma, and A. siamensis. Ansonia latirostra is separated from all other species except A. glandulosa and A. spinulifer by having a dorsolateral row of enlarged body tubercles, from A. siamensis by not having relatively smooth skin, from all other species except A. leptopus by having a vertebral row of small dorsal tubercles; and from A. guibei by lacking a flap of skin on each side of the vent. The abdomen of A. latirostra is coarsely granular whereas in A. longidigita it is weekly tuberculate and in A. siamensis it is finely granular. Ansonia latirostra differs from all other species except A. leptopus, A. malayana, and A. platysoma in having light spotting found in the gular region; lacking the large yellow spots found along the periphery of the gular region in A. inthanon; and lacking the dark­brown mottling found in A. kraensis. Ansonia latirostra also lacks the large, light­colored, elongate, suborbital patches found in A. albomaculata; some lack the light­colored, interscapular spot found in A. glandulosa, A. inthanon, A. kraensis, A. spinulifer, and many A. malayana; and the red dorsum found in A. rubigina. Like many other species of Ansonia, A. latirostra has light crossbars on the hind limbs which differentiates it from A. albomaculata, A. anotis, A. fuliginea, A. glandulosa, A. hanitschi, A. latidisca, A. ornata, A. rubigina, and A. spinulifer which lack such markings. Differences in toe webbing are presented in Table 1 as well as a summary of the aforementioned character differences.
In the absence of a species­level phylogenetic analysis, it is not possible to determine to which species Ansonia latirostra is most closely related. It is unique among the other small peninsular species Ansonia endauensis., A. kraensis, A. malayana, and A. siamensis in having an enlarged, protuberant cluster of tubercles in the scapular region. Ansonia latirostra is most similar to A. malayana in overall aspects of morphology (Table 1; Fig. 3) and closest to A. malayana in geographic proximity (Fig. 1), but differs from the latter in having interorbital ridges; larger and more widely spaced body tubercles with an enlarged, moderately defined, dorsolateral row; and a poorly defined vertebral row of tubercules.
Ansonia latirostra is not sexually dimorphic in the degree of toe webbing of the third and fifth toes as is A. malayana from Bukit Larut and some A. latirostra lack a light, intrascapular spot. Table 3 shows that A. latirostra differs greatly from A. malayana in having a significantly (p <0.01) wider head relative to SVL (HW/SVL) and a significantly wider rostrum relative to head width (SW/HW), a wider rostrum relative to snout­vent length (SW/SVL), and a wider rostrum relative to head length (SW/HL; from the Bukit Larut population only).
ZRC ZRC ZRC ZRC ZRC ZRC ZRC ZRC
1.11559 1.11561 1.11564 1.11565 1.11562 1.11560 1.11563 1.11566
holotype paratype paratype paratype paratype paratype paratype paratype
sex female female female female female male male male
SVL 26.4 25.4 27.7 30.5 26.3 20.4 21.5 23.6
TL 13.6 12.8 14.1 14.4 12.4 10.4 10.7 12.2
HW 7.5 7.5 7.5 8.1 7.4 6.4 6.5 7.1
SW 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.4 4 3.9 3.7 4
HL 8.2 8 8.0 8.2 7.9 6.5 7.1 7.6
SNL 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.4 2.9 3.1 3.1
SND 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.6 2 2.2 2.3
ED 2.4 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.6
IO 2.8 2.4 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.8
IN 2.5 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.2 2 2 2.5
TD 1.5 1.4 1.8 2.1 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.5
HNL 7.3 6.8 7.4 7.9 6.9 5.5 6 6.8
FL 9.6 9.4 10.4 10.6 9.3 7.7 8.2 9.2
TD/SVL 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.05 0.06 0.05 0.06
HW/SVL 0.28 0.31 0.29 0.27 0.28 0.32 0.3 0.3
HW/HL 0.92 0.94 0.98 0.99 0.94 0.99 0.92 0.93
HL/SVL 0.31 0.32 0.31 0.27 0.31 0.33 0.33 0.32
SW/HL 0.51 0.51 0.51 0.54 0.51 0.58 0.52 0.53
SW/SVL 0.16 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.15 0.19 0.17 0.17
SW/HW 0.55 0.55 0.52 0.54 0.54 0.59 0.57 0.56 Natural history. All individuals were collected during the evening from the same, small, rocky stream which runs through a closed­canopy portion of hill dipterocarp forest. All were perched no higher than two meters above the ground on leaves overhanging the streambed or on the tops of large rocks along the edge of the stream. No calling males were heard nor were any tadpoles observed.
Etymology. The specific epithet is in reference to this species’ wide snout.
SW/HL A. latirostra Gunung A. latirostra Bukit Larut A. latirostra Bukit Larut
Lawit male female
description: Published as part of Grismer, L. Lee, 2006, A new species of Ansonia Stoliczka 1872 (Anura: Bufonidae) from Central Peninsular Malaysia and a revised taxonomy for Ansonia from the Malay Peninsula, pp. 1-21 in Zootaxa 1327 on pages 3-13, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.174125