Zhangixalus

Zhangixalus  is a group of frogs in the subfamily Rhacophorinae, family Rhacophoridae. They are called Zhang's treefrogs in English. They live in the Eastern Himalayas, southern China, Taiwan, Japan, and southeast Asia.

Name
The frogs are named for Zhang Ya-Ping from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Zhang worked in biodiversity and evolution research in China. Ixalus is a word that means treefrogs.

Taxonomy
Scientists made the group Zhangixalus in a 2019 when they were looking at the very large genus Rhacophorus (92 species). They divided Rhacophorus into three groups: Rhacophorus sensu stricto (then 39 species; as of November 2021, 43 species), Leptomantis (then 14 species; as of November 2021, 13 species), and Zhangixalus (then 37 species; as of November 2021, 40 species). They did this because of molecular data, such as DNA, but also because they could see differences in the frogs' bodies and in the places where they lived. Rhacophorus is the sister taxon of Zhangixalus and Leptomantis.

Description
Zhangixalus are large frogs, ranging between  in from nose to rear end, but most are more than more than . The snout is round. The terminal phalanges of fingers and toes are Y-shaped. Dorsal skin is smooth or has some small bumps. Most frogs have green skins. The female lays eggs in white foam nests that the two frogs make together.

Zhangixalus has frogs that seem not to be related to other frogs: Z. achantharrhena, Z. dulitensis, and Z. prominanus. They are different from other Zhangixalus frogs: they have folds in their skin by their legs and tarsal projections. Scientists are not sure these species really should be in Zhangixalus.

Species
There are 41 species in this genus:

The AmphibiaWeb recognizes the same species except Zhangixalus amamiensis, which is treated as being part of Zhangixalus viridis.

References

Category:Frogs of Asia