''Nasutixalus'' is a genus 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 ...

s in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs 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 known as ...

. The genus is found in northeastern India and adjacent southeastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

as well as western

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

(China); the range might extend into the adjacent Nepal and Myanmar. Common name ridged-nose treefrogs has been coined for this genus.

Etymology

The name ''Nasutixalus'' is derived from the Latin ''nasutus'' meaning "large-nosed", and ''ixalus'', which is a generic stem for treefrogs.

Taxonomy

''Nasutixalus'' was erected in 2016 to accommodate ''

Nasutixalus medogensis ''Nasutixalus medogensis'', the Medog ridge-nosed tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It has been found in China (Tibet) and north-eastern India (Arunachal Pradesh), where it has been observed 1619 meters above sea level ...

''. The species was described based on a single specimen. Molecular data suggested that this specimen represented a distinct lineage with the family Rhacophoridae, warranting recognition as a new genus. In a study published only two days later, Sathyabhama Das Biju and colleagues erected a new

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Frankixalus'' for ''Polypedates jerdonii''; the name of the genus honours from the Free University of Brussels. Because of the earlier publication date, priority is given to ''Nasutixalus'', rendering ''Frankixalus''

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. A specimen first identified as '' Theloderma moloch'' was genetically distinct from other '' Theloderma'' and made the genus

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

. Later analysis showed that ''Theloderma moloch'' collected near its type locality indeed cluster with other ''Theloderma'', whereas the anomalous specimen belongs to the same lineage as ''

Nasutixalus jerdonii ''Nasutixalus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. The genus is found in northeastern India and adjacent southeastern Tibet as well as western Yunnan (China); the range might extend into the adjacent Nepal and Myanmar. Common name r ...

'' and is now described as ''Nasutixalus medogensis''.

Species

There are three species: * ''

'' ( Günther, 1876) * ''

'' Jiang, Wang, Yan, and Che, 2016 * '' Nasutixalus yingjiangensis'' Yang and Chan, 2018

Description

''Nasutixalus'' are cryptic, medium-sized frogs: adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. Fingers have rudimentary webbing whereas the toes are moderately webbed.

Habitat and reproduction

''Nasutixalus'' are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the 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 (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

and live in montane evergreen forests. Male ''Nasutixalus jerdonii'' and ''N. yingjiangensis''

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call (poker), a bet matching an opponent's * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from L ...

from tree holes. Eggs of ''N. jerdonii'' have been found in water-filled tree holes, adhering on the inner walls slightly above the water surface.

Tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s were found in water and had eggs in their stomachs, i.e., they are oophagous. Oophagy is considered an adaptation in phytotelm-breeding frogs for a nutrient-deficient environment. Whether the observed eggs were conspecific is not known, although circumstantial evidence suggests so.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27655459 Rhacophoridae Amphibian genera Frogs of Asia Taxa named by Che Jing