Scutiger (frog)

Scutiger is a genus of toads in the family Megophryidae. Common name lazy toads has been coined for them. They occur in China, Burma, Nepal, and northern India in high-altitude habitats. Most are endemic to China.

Evolution A 2017 molecular phylogenetic study found that Scutiger originated in Paleo-Tibet during the Oligocene.

Species The following species are recognised in the genus Scutiger: Scutiger adungensis Dubois, 1979 – Adung lazy toad Scutiger bhutanensis Delorme and Dubois, 2001 Scutiger boulengeri (Bedriaga, 1898) – Boulenger's lazy toad, Xizang alpine toad, Himalayan stream frog Scutiger brevipes (Liu, 1950) Scutiger chintingensis Liu and Hu, 1960 – Chinting lazy toad, Chinting alpine toad Scutiger ghunsa Khatiwada, Shu, Subedi, Wang, Ohler, Cannatella, Xie, and Jiang, 2019 – Ghunsa high altitude toad Scutiger glandulatus (Liu, 1950) – Hopachai lazy toad, chest gland cat-eyed toad Scutiger gongshanensis Yang and Su, 1979 – Gongshan lazy toad, Gongshan cat-eyed toad Scutiger jiulongensis Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 1995 – Jiulong cat-eyed toad Scutiger liupanensis Huang, 1985 – Liupan lazy toad, Liupan alpine toad Scutiger maculatus (Liu, 1950) – spotted lazy toad, piebald alpine toad Scutiger mammatus (Günther, 1896) – Tungsolo lazy toad Scutiger muliensis Fei and Ye, 1986 – Muli cat-eyed toad Scutiger nepalensis Dubois, 1974 – Nepal lazy toad, mountain pelobatid toad, Asiatic spadefoot toad Scutiger ningshanensis Fang, 1985 – Ningshan lazy toad, Ningshan alpine toad Scutiger nyingchiensis Fei, 1977 – Nyingchi lazy toad, Ladakh pelobatid toad, Nyingshi alpine toad Scutiger occidentalis Dubois, 1978 – Ladakh high altitude toad Scutiger pingwuensis Liu and Tian, 1978 – Pingwu lazy toad, Pingwu alpine toad Scutiger sikimmensis (Blyth, 1855) – Sikkim lazy toad, Sikkim high altitude toad, Blyth's short-limbed frog Scutiger spinosus Jiang, Wang, Li, and Che, 2016 – spiny lazy toad Scutiger tengchongensis Yang & Huang, 2019Scutiger tengchongensis. Scutiger tuberculatus Liu and Fei, 1979 – bumpy lazy toad, round-tubercled cat-eyed toad Scutiger wanglangensis Ye and Fei, 2007 – Wanglang alpine toad Scutiger wuguanfui Jiang, Rao, Yuan, Wang, Li, Hou, Che, and Che, 2012 – Wu's lazy toad, Medog lazy toad

Endemic ranges Many Scutiger species are endemic to highly restricted geographical areas in the Eastern Himalayas. The ranges often overlap with those of Oreolalax species.

Ningxia, China Scutiger liupanensis: Liupanshan National Nature Reserve, Jingyuan County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China Shaanxi, China Scutiger ningshanensis: Ningshan County, Shaanxi Sichuan, China Scutiger brevipes: Dawu County, Sichuan Scutiger chintingensis: Mount Emei area, Sichuan Scutiger jiulongensis: Jiulong County, Sichuan Scutiger maculatus: Garze, Sichuan and Jiangda, Tibet Scutiger muliensis: Muli County, Sichuan Scutiger pingwuensis: Pingwu County, Sichuan Scutiger wanglangensis: Sichuan Yunnan, China Scutiger gongshanensis: Gongshan County, Yunnan Tibet Scutiger maculatus: Garze, Sichuan and Jiangda, Tibet Scutiger nyingchiensis: Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet Scutiger spinosus: Medog County, Tibet and Tawang District, Arunachal Pradesh Scutiger wuguanfui: Medog County, Tibet Bhutan Scutiger bhutanensis: Bhutan Sikkim, India Scutiger sikimmensis: Sikkim, India

References

Further reading Fu, J., et al. (1997). Phylogeny of genus Scutiger (Amphibia: Megophryidae): a re-evaluation. Asiatic Herpetol. Res 7, 32–37.