2008 Update

New additions in the 2008 update

There were 366 species added to the database in the 2008 update. In 2004 there were 5,743 species listed, in 2006 this increased to 5,918, and in 2008 there are now 6,260 species listed. Not all of these additional species were new species descriptions; a few were subspecies recently elevated to species status, or species removed from synonymy. See Table 1 for a summary of these additions.

 

Origin of additional species Number of species
New species descriptions (2005, 2006 and 2007) 294
New species descriptions (earlier than 2005 that had previously been missed) 8
Elevated from subspecies status or removed from synonymy 64
Table 1. Summary of new species additions in the 2008 update.

 

Not surprisingly, most of these additional species are considered Data Deficient, as there is not enough information currently known to make an assessment of their conservation status. A summary of the IUCN Red List categories assigned to the 366 additional species is given in Table 2 and Figure 1.

 

Legend Key Red List Category Number of species Percentage in category
  Extinct (EX) 2 0.6
  Extinct in the Wild (EW) 0 0.0
  Critically Endangered (CR) 21 5.7
  Endangered (EN) 21 5.7
  Vulnerable (VU) 42 11.5
  Near Threatened (NT) 12 3.3
  Least Concern (LC) 77 21.0
  Data Deficient (DD) 191 52.2
  TOTAL 366  
Table 2. Summary of IUCN Red List categories for new species additions in the 2008 update.

 

Summary of IUCN Red List categories for new species additions in the 2006 update
Figure 1. Summary of IUCN Red List categories for new species additions in the 2008 update.

 

Although we have tried our best to include all newly described species in the 2008 update, it is always difficult to keep up to date with the latest taxonomy. Already we are aware of a number of newly described species that still need to be added, and these species will be a priority for inclusion in the next update of the data. To help us keep up-to-date it is a great help if new species descriptions are sent to us for inclusion. The address to send all new species information, as well as any other information for inclusion in the assessment, is redlist@iucn.org.

Species that were no longer included

wenty-four species were removed in the 2008 update. These are listed below.

  • Cochranella ametarsia Ruiz-Carranza and Lynch, 1991 was synonymised with C. oyampiensis (Lescure, 1975) following Guayasamin, J.M., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Castroviejo-Fisher, S. (2008).
  • Cochranella petersi Ruiz-Carranza and Lynch, 1998 was synonymized under Cochranella pulverata (Peters, 1873) following Guayasamin, J.M., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Castroviejo-Fisher, S. (2008).
  • Colostethus alagoanus (Bokermann, 1967), C. capixaba (Bokermann, 1967) and C. carioca (Bokermann, 1967) were synonymised with Allobates olfersioides (A. Lutz, 1925) following Verdade and Rodrigues (2007).
  • Dendrobates azureus Hoogmoed, 1969 was synonymised with Dendrobates tinctorius (Schneider, 1799) following Wollenberg et al. (2006).
  • Eleutherodactylus andicola (Boettger, 1891) was synonymised with Gastrotheca marsupiata (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841).
  • Leptodactylus dominicensis Cochran, 1923 is now considered to be a junior synonym of Leptodactylus albilabris Gunther, 1859 following Hedges and Heinicke (2007).
  • Phrynopus laplacai (Cei, 1968) is now considered a synonym of Phrynopus wettsteini (Parker, 1932) following Lehr (2006).
  • Phrynopus spectabilis Duellman, 2000 is now considered a synonym of Pleurodema marmoratum (Dumeril and Bibron, 1841) following Lehr (2006).
  • Chaparana yei (Chen, Qu and Jiang, 2002) was synonymised with Yerana yei (formerly Paa yei). This is just one species that was in the past mistakenly included twice under two different genera.
  • Chaparana taihangnicus (Chen and Jiang, 2002) was synonymised with Nanorana taihangnica (formerly Paa taihangnica). This is just one species that was in the past mistakenly included twice under two different genera.
  • Rana bannanica Rao and Yang, 1997 was synonymised with Hylarana milleti (Smith, 1921) following Ohler (2007).
  • Rana daorum Bain, Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov and Ho Thu Cuc, 2003 was synonymised with Amolops mengyangensis Wu and Tian, 1995 following Ohler (2007).
  • Rana megatympanum Bain, Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov and Cuc, 2003 and R. heatwolei Stuart and Bain, 2005 were synonymised with Odorrana tiannanensis (Yang and Li, 1980) following Ohler (2007).
  • Rana hmongorum Bain, Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov and Ho Thu Cuc, 2003 was synonymised with Odorrana jingdongensis Fei, Ye and Li, 2001 following Ohler (2007).
  • Rana nigrolineata Liu and Hu, 1959 was synonymised with Pelophylax lateralis (Boulenger, 1887) following Ohler (2007).
  • Rana nigrotympanica Dubois, 1992 was synonymised with Hylarana cubitalis (Smith, 1917) following Ohler (2007).
  • Rhacophorus htunwini Wilkinson, Thin, Lwin and Shein, 2005 was synonymised with Rhacophorus bipunctatus Ahl, 1927 following Bordoloi et al. (2007).
  • Rhacophorus namdaphaensis Sarkar and Sanyal, 1985 was synonymised with Rhacophorus rhodopus Liu and Hu, 1959 following Bordoloi et al. (2007).
  • The "in press" species Philautus "Tholpetti Forest" was deleted from the database, as it had mistakenly been included twice. It had already been described and included in the assessment as P. luteolus Kuramoto and Joshy, 2003.
  • The "in press" species Philautus "Munnar 2" was deleted from the database, as it had mistakenly been included twice. It had already been described and included in the assessment as P. griet Bossuyt, 2003.
  • The "in press" species Philautus "Athirimala" was deleted from the database. It is still considered a good species, but it is not in press and not likely to be published soon. It will hopefully be included in a future update once it has been described.

References

Bordoloi, S., Bortamuli, T. and Ohler, A. 2007 Systematics of the genus Rhacophorus (Amphibia, Anura): identity of red-webbed forms and description of a new species from Assam. Zootaxa: 1653:1-20.

Guayasamin, J.M., Cisneros-Heredia, D.F., Castroviejo-Fisher, S. 2008 Taxonomic identity of Cochranella petersi Goin, 1961 and Centrolenella ametarsia: Flores, 1987. Zootaxa: 1815:25-34.

Hedges, S.B., and Heinicke, M.P. 2007 Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of West Indian frogs of the genus Leptodactylus: (Anura, Leptodactylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution: 44:308-314.

Lehr, E. 2006 Taxonomic status of some species of Peruvian Phrynopus: (Anura: Leptodactylidae), with the description of a new species of the Andes of southern Peru. Herpetologic:a 62:331-347.

Ohler, A. 2007 New synonyms in specific names of frogs (Raninae) from the border regions between China, Laos and Vietnam. Alyte:s 25:55-74.

Verdade, V.K., and Rodrigues, M.T. 2007 Taxonomic review of Allobates: (Anura, Aromobatidae) from the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Journal of Herpetology: 41:566-580.

Wollenberg, K.C., Veith, M., Noonan, B.P. and Lötters, S. 2006 Polymorphism Versus Species Richness - systematics of Large Dendrobates: from the Eastern Guiana Shield (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae). Copeia: 2006(4):623-629.