Motuo County, located in the eastern Himalayas and within the lower section of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, is characterized by steep elevational gradients and complex topography, supporting high levels of biodiversity and endemism that remain insufficiently explored. Based on integrated evidence from morphological comparisons and molecular phylogenetic analyses, a new subgenus and a new species of Asian horned toads from Motuo County, Xizang, China, are described. The new subgenus, Viridophrys subgen. nov ., with its type species Megophrys (Viridophrys) motuoensis sp. nov ., represents an independent evolutionary lineage within the broadly defined Megophrys , as supported by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses. Although its exact sister-group relationship is not consistently resolved among different datasets, the new lineage is phylogenetically close to the subgenera Brachytarsophrys and Atympanophrys. Morphologically, the new subgenus can be distinguished from other major megophryine lineages by a combination of morphological characters. The discovery of Viridophrys subgen. nov . and M. (Viridophrys) motuoensis sp. nov . highlights the underestimated diversity of megophryids in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon region and emphasizes the need for continued biodiversity surveys and conservation efforts in the eastern Himalayas.
Twelve new species of the primitively segmented spider genus Songthela Ono, 2000, from Guizhou Province, China, are described based on the genital morphology of both sexes: S. chenjiapian sp. nov . (♂♀), S. cuantang sp. nov . (♂♀), S. fengxiang sp. nov . (♂♀), S. fuyan sp. nov . (♂♀), S. nanqiao sp. nov . (♂♀), S. parallela sp. nov . (♂♀), S. qingganglin sp. nov . (♂♀), S. tianba sp. nov . (♂♀), S. tudiao sp. nov . (♂♀), S. yanhe sp. nov . (♂♀), S. yinchiba sp. nov . (♂♀), and S. yuhu sp. nov . (♂♀). All new species are assigned to the multidentata -group based on the morphology of the male palp and female genitalia. Detailed diagnoses, descriptions, photographs, and a distribution map are provided. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences are also provided for the holotypes to facilitate future species identification and molecular studies.
Trachischium nyalamense Guo, Liu, Jin, Shu, Wu & Che, 2024 was recently described, based on a single adult male specimen collected from Zhangmu Town, Nyalam County, Xizang Autonomous Region, China. Due to the limited material available, important aspects of its biology and morphology, including sexual dimorphism, skull morphology and reproductive biology, remain poorly understood. In July 2025 and June 2026, three adult female specimens and one adult male specimen, respectively, were collected from the type locality of T. nyalamense. One of these females was found in association with a clutch of seven fertilised eggs in the field. Phylogenetic analyses, based on the mitochondrial 16S and Cyt b gene fragments, showed that the newly-collected specimens clustered with the holotype of T. nyalamense with high support and no genetic differentiation was detected amongst individuals (p-distance = 0.0%). Further morphological examination revealed that the four newly-collected specimens generally agree with the diagnostic characters of T. nyalamense, differing only in minor features attributable to normal sexual dimorphism. Based on these four new specimens and three hatched juveniles, we provide a detailed re-description of T. nyalamense, including its skull morphology and report its reproductive biology.
Due to morphological conservatism, taxonomic misidentification has frequently occurred in the Amolops monticola species group. In this study, based on previously published data and newly collected samples, phylogenetic and morphological analyses were conducted to investigate the species diversity of the A. monticola species group in southern Yunnan, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on three mitochondrial genes (16S rRNA, COI, and ND2) revealed that the types of A. compotrix form a clade and that this clade is sister to the clade formed by A. compotrix from Yunnan, A. truongi , and newly collected samples from Jinggu and Pingbian counties, indicating that A. compotrix and A. truongi are not reciprocally monophyletic. Based on the low genetic distances between A. compotrix and A. truongi and the absence of stable diagnostic morphological differences despite geographically structured morphometric variation, A. truongi is proposed as a junior synonym of A. compotrix . The samples from Xishuangbanna are grouped together with A. vitreus . Together with the morphological evidence, this result suggests that A. vitreus is a junior synonym of A. mengyangensis . In addition, the known distribution of A. deng is extended from southeastern Xizang and northwestern Yunnan to Pingbian County, southeastern Yunnan. Therefore, a total of six species belonging to the A. monticola group are distributed in southern Yunnan, namely A. compotrix , A. deng , A. huanglianshanensis , A. mengyangensis , A. wenshanensis , and A. iriodes . Neither nominal A. bellulus nor A. daorum is monophyletic, indicating that further studies are required to clarify the species diversity of the A. monticola group.
The first occurrence of the grass lizard subspecies Takydromus kuehnei vietnamensis Ziegler & Bischoff, 1999 in China is documented based on two specimens collected from Fangchenggang, Guangxi. Morphological features and molecular phylogenetic evidence from mitochondrial COI and Cyt b sequences concordantly identify these samples as T. k. vietnamensis, which forms a well-supported clade sister to the nominate subspecies T. k. kuehnei. The observed genetic divergence (6.4–7.9% for Cyt b; 8.2–11.5% for COI) is consistent with deep lineage differentiation. This new record further complements the distributional data for T. k. vietnamensis and provides the first molecular resources for this poorly documented subspecies. The findings underscore the close biogeographic connection between southern China and northern Vietnam and emphasize the need for intensified surveys in cross-border regions.
