A herpetological survey of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, and phylogenetic identification of Megophrys (Xenophrys) zhangi

ABSTRACT

The herpetofauna of Nepal have been historically understudied, and although previous studies have reported on bioinventory surveys of the Kathmandu Valley, few have surveyed widely during the peak monsoon season. In addition, past studies largely neglected to survey intact forest habitats. Here we conduct a comprehensive field survey of the herpetofauna of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, with an emphasis on the surrounding foothills containing intact forest habitat. We record natural history and distribution data for seven species of amphibians and four species of reptiles. We also use mitochondrial sequence data to confirm the phylogenetic placement of two frog species, Megophrys (Xenophrys) parva and Duttaphrynus melanostictus. Using phylogenetic and morphological data we assign Megophrys parva from the Kathmandu Valley to Megophrys zhangi. We find that while this species shares a haplotype with its sister species, Megophrys monticola, morphological data align the individuals from the Kathmandu Valley with M. zhangi from Tibet. We find that M. zhangi exhibits no phylogenetic structure within the Kathmandu Valley, and wider sampling is needed throughout the Himalayas to determine its full range. These findings support the hypothesis that molecular sequence data will lead to the discovery of cryptic species in Nepal and facilitate the revision of species taxonomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Bioinventory
• herpetology
• phylogenetics
• South Asia
• Nepal

Acknowledgements

All survey work and tissue collection was conducted under permit number 073/74 Eco 104 and Dispatch No. 1781 from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). We are also grateful to Dr. Matthew K. Fujita at the University of Texas at Arlington for generously funding a portion of the molecular sequencing. We thank members of the department at the DNPWC for all of their support with planning and implementing this survey. We thank the staff at the Center for Molecular Dynamics for advice and support given during this survey, as well as Mountain Child Adventure Travel for logistic support. The authors acknowledge no financial interest or benefit as a result of this work.

Data availability

Molecular sequence data can be located under the Genbank accession numbers MF319500–MF319517 (Table S1).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Geolocation information

Study area (box): 27.852487°N, 85.272109°E; 27.829415°N, 85.622298°E; 27.436438°N, 85.557754°E; 27.462031°N, 85.138900°E; 27.852487°N, 85.266616°E

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by National Geographic Young Explorers Grant [#9711–15]; and the University of Texas at Arlington.