Chinese floating frogs and Lingnan floating frogs "hometown" are in Shenzhen

Recently, the dissertation of the Eurasian Research Team of the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat -sen University on the scheduled category of floating frogs in South China was officially published in the journal "VerteBrate Zoology" (vertebrate zoology). The production area of ​​this new species. This not only means that Shenzhen has added a new wild species, but also a more than a century of classification errors in more than a century. Independent new species are now revised as Chinese floating frogs and Lingnan floating frogs. The discovery of these two types of floating frogs has an inextricable bond with Shenzhen.

▲ The Lingnan Floating Frog recorded in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen. Lu Zhitong's picture

July 26th is International Day to protect the mangrove ecosystem. As an important member of the wetland ecosystem and the latest local species, Lingnan floating frogs entered the field of vision of late night reporters. To this end, the reporter exclusively interviewed Lu Zhitong, the first author of the thesis and a doctoral student of the School of Life Sciences at Sun Yat -sen University, and asked him to tell the reader about the origin of floating frog species and Shenzhen for nearly 150 years.

In 1876, Western missionaries discovered in Li Lang that "the tongue floating frog Chinese variant"

Dr. Lu told reporters that according to relevant historical records, since modern times, Westerners, mainly missionaries, have entered China earlier. Among them, missionary groups in Guangdong are famous for Christian Basel Mission. The first stop is in Li Langcun, Shenzhen.

▲ Shenzhen Lilang Village (1877-1912). Quote from BaselMissionarchives

In 1876, a missionary of the Batse Club collected a small frog in Li Lang's farmland, and later the specimen was sent to the museum in Basel, Switzerland. Two years later, the specimen was officially named "Oxyglossalimavar.chinens" ", which was officially named. The model produced was Shenzhen Lilang Village. This is the earliest amphibious animal species published by Shenzhen as a model.

"The sharp -tongue floating frog is an amphibious animal of the floating frog. Floating frogs are static water frogs, which are generally inhabited in farmland, ponds, lakes and other habitats. Floating frog. Dr. Lu explained.

Dr. Lu told reporters that there were two types of floating frogs in Guangdong before: one was a sharp -tongue floating frog, which was widely distributed in Guangdong Province; the other was a round tongue floating frog, which was only recorded in Maoming, western Guangdong. The biggest difference between these two floating frogs is that the shape of the tongue is different. In addition, the tongue floating frogs inhabit more in the plain, and the round tongue floating frogs are more preferred by hills.

▲ The Lingnan Floating Frog recorded in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen. Lu Zhitong's picture

Nearly 150 years later, Chinese experts unveiled the true identity of "Shenzhen Floating Frog"

It has been nearly 150 years since the naming of Chinese variants of sharp frogs. Shenzhen has also developed from the border town of that year to its current metropolis. In the process of rapid urbanization, most of the former farmland has disappeared. So, how did the fate of this species first discovered in Shenzhen changed?

Since 2014, the Shenzhen Wildlife Protection and Management Office commissioned the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat -sen University to organize a survey of terrestrial vertebrates that lasted 3 years in Shenzhen. Subsequently, the Shenzhen Ecological Environment Bureau organized another 3 years in the city. Land Ecological Survey. Dr. Lu Zhitong participated in the two investigations throughout the process. "The 6 -year survey was very regrettable that we could not find a sharp frog in Shenzhen. So, in the Shenzhen Animal Survey Report, we had to remove the sharp -tongue floating frogs from the existing amphibious animal list in Shenzhen. . This also announced the regional extinction of this species within Shenzhen. "Dr. Lu said.

However, despite the failure to find a sharp -tongue floating frog, in this series of surveys, investigators accidentally discovered another floating frog species that had never been recorded in Shenzhen in Shenzhen, a round tongue floating frog that had never been recorded in Shenzhen.

In Dr. Lu's view, how unfortunately the tongue floating frogs disappeared in Shenzhen, how surprisingly and exciting the discovery of the tongue floating frog in Shenzhen was. But the new problem also follows: On the one hand, the distribution point of the round tongue floating frog in Shenzhen is small, and the number of populations is not large, which makes experts very worried. On the other hand, the round tongue floating frog has previously only distributed records in western Guangdong. Shenzhen and western Guangdong are more than 300 kilometers. How does this species come to Shenzhen? This is also a problem that makes experts feel incredible.

To this end, the amphibious crawling animal research team of the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat -sen University began to conduct field investigations and in -depth research on floating frogs throughout South China. The results of the study found that the research conditions of the background of the times, the two floating frog species previously recorded by Guangdong were wrong identification!

"The model of the tongue floating frog is located in the Java Island of Indonesia, and the origin of the round tongue floating frog is in Bangkok, Thailand. By carefully studying the comparison, we found that the tongue floating frogs and round tongue floating frogs recorded in Guangdong earlier Compared with the population, there are significant genetic differentiation and morphological differences, and it should belong to other independent species. "Dr. Lu said.

As a result, the research team revised the "sharp fog frog" group previously recorded as "Chinese floating frogs (O. OBSCURA)"; and the "round tongue floating frog" species recorded by Guangdong before, after consulting the literature, confirmed that there was no any no any of Historical name, that is, the "round tongue floating frog" population in Guangdong is a new species that has never been described. In addition, the distribution of Guangdong's "round tongue floating frog" is not only in Shenzhen and Maoming. The team also found some populations in Zhuhai, Zhanjiang and other places. The round tongue floating frog population recorded by Hainan also belongs to this species. According to its distribution range, experts decided to name this species "O.lingnanica" and choose to collect specimens from Shenzhen population as a positive model.

▲ The Lingnan Floating Frog recorded in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen in the mountains of the eastern part of Shenzhen. Lu Zhitong's picture

"In this series of field surveys, we found that the sharp fog frogs that have been widely distributed in Guangdong before (that is, the newly named Chinese floating frog now). , British and Renhua, located in northern Guangdong. Due to the degeneration and destruction of the habitat environment, the population in other places has disappeared. Although there are many distribution points in Lingnan Floating frogs, each distributed area is separated, showing fragmented, islands, islands Although there is no worries about extinction, it cannot be taken lightly. Therefore, according to the evaluation criteria of the IUCN red list, we recommend that the endangered level of Chinese floating frogs as endangered (EN), and the endangered level of Lingnan floating frogs evaluate It is easy to danger (VU). For the authentic name of the species, it is only the beginning of biodiversity research. Next, we still have more further protection work urgently. "Dr. Lu said.

Why choose Shenzhen as a model?

Dr. Lu said that in the process of determining the production area of ​​Lingnan Floating Frog, the research team has been tangled and struggling.

The importance of model production is irreplaceable in the study of biological diversity. Chinese floating frogs and Lingnan floating frogs can eventually get their names. Molecular and morphological data from sharp tongue floating frogs and round tongue floating frogs are vital The role. The subsequent research on Chinese floating frogs and Lingnan floating frogs will also largely depend on the population of its model origin.

"But after struggling, we finally chose Shenzhen." Dr. Lu said.

Speaking of the reasons for choosing Shenzhen, Dr. Lu told reporters that the research team is convinced that as a demonstration zone of an international metropolis and a national ecological civilization construction, Shenzhen has the ability and determination to protect the newly named species of Lingnan Fkin. , Will never make it repeat the fate of Chinese floating frogs. At the same time, experts even hope that by choosing Shenzhen as a model of Lingnan Floating Frog, the protection of Lingnan Floating Frogs has become the strong grasp of Shenzhen The awareness of the protection of important species of habitat, and then promotes the overall protection of the local biological diversity of Shenzhen.

"In 2016, we were extremely reluctant to remove the sharp -tongue floating frogs from the amphibious animal list in Shenzhen. This is a warning; and now, in this list, we solemnly add the new name of the Lingnan Floating Frog. We hope that Shenzhen will be ranging and fully protect the home of Lingfu frog. "Dr. Lu said.

▲ The dissertation of the Eurasian Research Team of the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat -sen University on the classification of floating frogs in South China was officially published in the journal "VerteBratezoology" (vertebrate zoology). Lu Zhitong's picture

Shenzhen Evening News reporter Li Jingchuan

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