Two new species of Hemiphyllodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from Laos.

Two new species of the gekkonid lizard genus Hemiphyllodactylus are described based on specimens collected from Champasak Province in southern Laos and Houaphanh Province in northern Laos. Phylogenetic analyses recover H. indosobrinus sp. nov. from Champasak Province as the sister lineage to the Thai endemic H. flaviventris. Hemiphyllodactylus indosobrinus sp. nov. can be diagnosed by having 15 supralabial scales, eight chin scales, 4­5­5­4 subdigital lamellae on Fingers II-V, 4­5­5­5 subdigital lamellae on Toes II-V, and 18 continuous precloacofemoral pores. Phylogenetic analyses recover H. serpispecus sp. nov. from Houaphanh Province to be most closely related to the Vietnamese endemic H. banaensis. Hemiphyllodactylus serpispecus sp. nov. differs from congeners by having seven chin scales; 3­4­4­4 subdigital lamellae on Fingers II-V; 3­4­4­5 subdigital lamellae on Toes II-V; and 11 continuous precloacofemoral pores. The recognition of these two new species doubles the number of Hemiphyllodactylus known from Laos.

A new caruncle-bearing fanged frog (Limnonectes, Dicroglossidae) from Laos and Thailand.

A new species of the dicroglossid frog genus Limnonectes is described from recent and historical museum specimens collected in central and southern Laos and northeastern Thailand. Limnonectessavan sp. nov. has males that bear a caruncle on top of the head, and most closely resembles L.dabanus from adjacent southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. However, the new species is readily distinguished from L.dabanus, and all other caruncle-bearing species of Limnonectes in mainland Southeast Asia, by its adult and larval morphology, mitochondrial DNA, and advertisement call. Its description brings the total number of caruncle-bearing species of Limnonectes to six.

Geographic structure of genetic variation in the Parachute Gecko Ptychozoon lionotum Annandale, 1905 across Indochina and Sundaland with descriptions of three new species.

An integrative taxonomic analysis of the Ptychozoon lionotum group across its range in Indochina and Sundaland recovers P. lionotum sensu lato Annandale, 1905 as paraphyletic with respect to P. popaense Grismer, Wood, Thura, Grismer, Brown, Stuart, 2018a and composed of four allopatric, genetically divergent, ND2 mitochondrial lineages. Multivariate and univariate analyses of continuous and discrete morphological and color pattern characters statistically and discretely diagnose each lineage from one another and together, with maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses, provide the foundation for the recognition of each lineage as a new species-hypotheses corroborated with a Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent species delimitation analysis. Ptychozoon cicakterbang sp. nov. ranges throughout Peninsular Malaysia to Pulau Natuna Besar, Indonesia; P. kabkaebin sp. nov. is endemic to northern and central Laos; and P. tokehos sp. nov. ranges from southern Thailand south of the Isthmus of Kra northward to Chiang Mai, fringing the Chao Phraya Basin and ranging southward through Cambodia to southern Vietnam. Ptychozoon lionotum sensu stricto ranges from northwestern Laos through southern Myanmar to eastern India. The phylogeographic structure within each species varies considerably with P. lionotum s.s. showing no genetic divergence across its 1,100 km range compared to P. cicakterbang sp. nov. showing upwards of 8.2% sequence divergence between syntopic individuals. Significant phylogeographic structure exists within P. tokehos sp. nov. and increased sampling throughout Thailand may require additional taxonomic changes within this species.

A new Limnonectes (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from southern Laos.

A new species of "fanged frog" in the genus Limnonectes resembling L. kohchangae (Smith, 1922) from southeastern Thailand and southwestern Cambodia is described from upper elevations of the Bolaven Plateau, southern Laos. However, the new species, L. coffeatus sp. nov., is not resolved to be the closest relative of L. kohchangae, and is further distinguished from this taxon by differences in skin texture and coloration. The new species is potentially threatened from extensive conversion of forest into coffee plantations on the Bolaven Plateau.

A new small-sized Theloderma (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Laos.

A new species of the rhacophorid frog genus Theloderma is described from the forested shoreline of the Nam Lik Reservoir, Vientiane Province, Laos. The new species differs from its congeners by having the combination of males with SVL 17.0-20.6; pearly asperities on dorsum; no vomerine teeth; disc diameter of finger III ca. 40% of tympanum diameter; uniformly gray venter; light brown dorsum with darker brown and black markings; and a uniformly bronze iris with small black reticulations. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data infers that the new species is most closely related to T. lateriticum from northern Vietnam. Evidence for the monophyly of Theloderma is reviewed.

Predicting environmental suitability for a rare and threatened species (Lao newt, Laotriton laoensis) using validated species distribution models.

The Lao newt (Laotriton laoensis) is a recently described species currently known only from northern Laos. Little is known about the species, but it is threatened as a result of overharvesting. We integrated field survey results with climate and altitude data to predict the geographic distribution of this species using the niche modeling program Maxent, and we validated these predictions by using interviews with local residents to confirm model predictions of presence and absence. The results of the validated Maxent models were then used to characterize the environmental conditions of areas predicted suitable for L. laoensis. Finally, we overlaid the resulting model with a map of current national protected areas in Laos to determine whether or not any land predicted to be suitable for this species is coincident with a national protected area. We found that both area under the curve (AUC) values and interview data provided strong support for the predictive power of these models, and we suggest that interview data could be used more widely in species distribution niche modeling. Our results further indicated that this species is mostly likely geographically restricted to high altitude regions (i.e., over 1,000 m elevation) in northern Laos and that only a minute fraction of suitable habitat is currently protected. This work thus emphasizes that increased protection efforts, including listing this species as endangered and the establishment of protected areas in the region predicted to be suitable for L. laoensis, are urgently needed.

Is chytridiomycosis an emerging infectious disease in Asia?

The disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has caused dramatic amphibian population declines and extinctions in Australia, Central and North America, and Europe. Bd is associated with >200 species extinctions of amphibians, but not all species that become infected are susceptible to the disease. Specifically, Bd has rapidly emerged in some areas of the world, such as in Australia, USA, and throughout Central and South America, causing population and species collapse. The mechanism behind the rapid global emergence of the disease is poorly understood, in part due to an incomplete picture of the global distribution of Bd. At present, there is a considerable amount of geographic bias in survey effort for Bd, with Asia being the most neglected continent. To date, Bd surveys have been published for few Asian countries, and infected amphibians have been reported only from Indonesia, South Korea, China and Japan. Thus far, there have been no substantiated reports of enigmatic or suspected disease-caused population declines of the kind that has been attributed to Bd in other areas. In order to gain a more detailed picture of the distribution of Bd in Asia, we undertook a widespread, opportunistic survey of over 3,000 amphibians for Bd throughout Asia and adjoining Papua New Guinea. Survey sites spanned 15 countries, approximately 36° latitude, 111° longitude, and over 2000 m in elevation. Bd prevalence was very low throughout our survey area (2.35% overall) and infected animals were not clumped as would be expected in epizootic events. This suggests that Bd is either newly emerging in Asia, endemic at low prevalence, or that some other ecological factor is preventing Bd from fully invading Asian amphibians. The current observed pattern in Asia differs from that in many other parts of the world.