Theloderma asperum (Boulenger, 1886)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Rhacophoridae > Subfamily: Rhacophorinae > Genus: Theloderma > Species: Theloderma asperum

Ixalus asper Boulenger, 1886, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1886: 415. Syntypes: BMNH 1947.2.6.18–19 (formerly 1886.4.16.2–3) according to Bossuyt and Dubois, 2001, Zeylanica, 6: 31, and museum records. Type locality: "Hill Garden, Larut, Perak, at an altitude of 3300 feet", Malaysia (Malaya).

Rhacophorus asperrimus Ahl, 1927, Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturforsch. Freunde Berlin, 1927: 32. Replacement name for Ixalus asper Boulenger, thought wrongly to be preoccupied by Rana aspera Boulenger, 1882 (= Mantidactylus aspera).

Philautus asperSmith, 1930, Bull. Raffles Mus., 3: 116; Fei, Ye, and Huang, 1990, Key to Chinese Amph.: 178.

Rhacophorus (Philautus) asperrimusAhl, 1931, Das Tierreich, 55: 53, 74.

Philautus asperrimusBourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 465–467.

Theloderma asperumTaylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 519; Liem, 1970, Fieldiana, Zool., 57: 94.

Aquixalus asperFei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 712. See comment under Philautus.

Theloderma (Theloderma) asperum — Poyarkov, Orlov, Moiseeva, Pawangkhanant, Ruangsuwan, Vassilieva, Galoyan, Nguyen, and Gogoleva, 2015, Russ. J. Herpetol., 22: 276. 

English Names

Hill Garden Bug-eyed Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 114).

Malayan Pied Warted Tree Frog (Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 444).

Larut Bug-eyed Frog (Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 63). 

Pied Warty Treefrog (Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 46).

Distribution

Range known with any accuracy only from the type locality in Peninsular Malaysia with populations in Myanmar (Bago, Kachin, Rakhine, Shan, Yangon, and Tanintharyi), western, northern, and southeastern Thailand, Cambodia (Kampong Speu and Mondulkiri provinces), and Sumatra and Borneo bearing the name but likely representing unnamed species. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malaysia, East (Sarawak and/or Sabah), Malaysia, West (Peninsular), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Comment

See comments under Theloderma albopunctatus and Theloderma baibungense, with which some literature may be confused. Berry, 1975, Amph. Fauna Peninsular Malaysia: 90–91, provided an account (as Philautus asper) for West Malaysia. Leong and Lim, 2003, Raffles Bull. Zool., 51: 128–130, provided a record from Raub District, Pahang, West Malaysia, and described larval morphology. Neang and Holden, 2008, Field Guide Amph. Cambodia: 115, provided a photograph, brief account of identification, ecology, and range in Cambodia. Grismer, Chan, Grismer, Wood, and Ahmad, 2010, Russ. J. Herpetol., 17: 147–160, reported localities from the Banjaran Bintang Mountains, northwestern peninsular Malaysia. In the subgenus Theloderma, Theloderma asperum species group of Poyarkov, Orlov, Moiseeva, Pawangkhanant, Ruangsuwan, Vassilieva, Galoyan, Nguyen, and Gogoleva, 2015, Russ. J. Herpetol., 22: 276. Hecht, Pham, Nguyen, Nguyen, Bonkowski, and Ziegler, 2013, Biodiversity J., 4: 507–552, reported a record from Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve, Bac Giang Province, northeastern Vietnam and Pham, An, Herbst, Bonkowski, Ziegler, and Nguyen, 2017, Bonn Zool. Bull., 66: 37–53, provided records for Cao Bang Province, Vietnam, along with observations on morphology and natural history but the assignment to species, although neither of these countries have been included as part of the range by subsequent authors. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 90–91, provided a photograph and brief account for the Eastern Region of Thailand, and (p. 141), detailed the range in Thailand. Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 430–431, provided a brief account (description, photographs, habitat, and range) for Thailand (in Thai). Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 444–445, provided photographs, a brief account for Thailand, and a range map. Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021, Russ. J. Herpetol., 28 (3A): 63, suggested that Cambodia and Thailand populations require additional study but did not explain the source of this conjecture. Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 46, briefly discussed identification, habitat, and range in Myanmar. 

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