摘要: We described a new species, Microhyla beilunensis sp. nov., from Zhejiang Province of China. Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial 12S, 16S and CO1 gene sequences suggested that the new taxon was distinctly separated from its congeners and closed to M. mixtura and M. okinavensis. Morphologically, the new species could be identified from its congeners except M. mixtura by several characters: (1) rudimentary webs on toe base; (2) absence of disks and dorsal median longitudinal grooves on finger tips; (3) presence of disks and dorsal median longitudinal grooves on toe tips. As well, the new species could be identified from topotype M. mixtura by the combination of characters: (1) apart from the stripes, bar-shaped and oval-shaped patterns, the rounded spots present on the dorsum of body and legs; (2) the outer metacarpal tubercles prominently larger than the inner one; (3) of males, the ratios of HW, IND, UEW and LAW to SVL of the new species were significantly larger than those of M. mixtura (P < 0.01), and the ratios of SL, IOD, LAHL, HLL, TL, TFL and FL to SVL of the new species were significantly less than those of M mixtura (P < 0.05).

摘要: New born hatchlings of Calotes versicolor were reared in terrarium having narrow or wide perches for a period of 4-month and their snout vent length (SVL), tail, fore and hindlimb lengths were measured at monthly intervals. Limb postures (closer to the body or spread away from the body) were also recorded. The sprint speed was recorded in two and four-month old lizards on a 1 m long race track providing 45 degrees or 60 degrees slope. In both the groups, SVL and tail lengths were comparable but the limb lengths and their growth rates were significantly greater in lizards of wider perch group. The lizards reared with narrow perches positioned their limbs closer to the body; while those reared on wider perches spread their limbs away from their body. Further, the latter exhibited significantly higher sprint speed regardless of the slope of the race track over those of narrow perch group. Sprint speeds of lizards in both groups were correlated with the limb sizes. The study showed that the lizards reared on narrow or wide perches exhibited divergent adaptive responses (phenotypic plasticity) by developing longer or shorter limbs and corresponding changes in their sprint speeds. These findings support the idea that availability of perch structure during early development evokes adaptive plasticity in the limb development and associated locomotory performance in arboreal lizards like C. versicolor.

摘要: We describe the complete mitochondrial genome of a small-scaled forest agamid (Pseudocalotes microlepis), which is 17 873 bp in size, containing 13 PCGs, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs and non-coding regions. The mitogenome has a typical gene order among squamates. 13 PCGs include 2 start codons (ATG and ATA), 3 stop codons (TAG, TAA and AGG), and an incomplete stop codon (T-). Codon usage analyses showed that CUA-Leul and CGG-Arg are the most frequently and rarely used codon, respectively. All 22 tRNAs were predicted to form canonical cloverleaf secondary structures, except for two tRNAs (tRNA(Cys) and tRNA(Ser(AGY)) lacking the dihydorouridine (DHU) arm. The large noncoding region (control region) is 2 687 bp long (28.3% T, 18.2% C, 42.3% A, and 11.2% G), with four different types of repeating sequences. The phylogenetic tree resulting from BEAST analyses based on concatenated 2 rRNAs and 13 PCGs in sequence revealed that the newly sequenced P microlepis, where the genus Acanthosaura were aggregated. Together with Calotes versicolor, they constitute the subfamily Draconinae.

摘要: The 16S rDNA amplicon high-throughput sequencing technique provides a robust and inexpensive approach to detect the gut microbiota of amphibians. Since different experimental protocols generate technical biases in drawing the gut microbiota profiles, the integrative analysis of gut microbiota produced by different studies must be performed with circumspection. In this study, we compared the efficacy of two DNA extraction methods (i.e., a phenol-chloroform method and TIANamp Stool DNA Kit) in describing intestinal and fecal bacterial communities of transplanted Asiatic toad (Bufo gargarizans) tadpoles. In terms of the DNA extraction quality (i.e., DNA purity and yield rate) and the consistency in between fecal and intestinal microbiota structures (i.e., alpha and beta diversity indices), the phenol-chloroform method was more robust than this commercial stool kit in profiling gut microbiota of tadpoles with feces.