1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka..
2 Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka..
Zootaxa. 2023 Jan 9;5227(4):459-472. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5227.4.4.
Pseudophilautus pardus, was first described in 2007, based on a single specimen collected in Sri Lanka during the 19th century. Its absence in recent surveys suggested that the species was extinct. The distinctive spotted dorsal coloration, together with other morphological features, was used to distinguish it from congeners. In 2013, we discovered a specimen resembling the holotype of P. pardus in Samanala Strict Nature Reserve. A DNA analysis based on the 16S rRNA mt-DNA locus recovered a low uncorrected pairwise genetic distance of 0.77-0.96% between the recent example of 'P. pardus' and a congener, P. viridis. Molecular species delimitation methods suggest P. pardus and P. virids to be a single operational taxonomic unit. Morphological analyses using the freshly collected specimen, together with numerous photographic records show P. viridis to be a highly polychromatic species within which the coloration observed in P. pardus too occurs, though rarely. We conclude that P. pardus is a junior synonym of P. viridis.
豹纹拟髭蟾，于 2007 年首次描述，基于 19 世纪在斯里兰卡采集的单一标本。最近的调查表明该物种已经灭绝，因此其并未出现。其独特的斑点状背部颜色，以及其他形态特征，被用来将其与同属物种区分开来。2013 年，我们在萨马拉拉严格自然保护区发现了一个与豹纹拟髭蟾模式标本相似的标本。基于 16S rRNA mt-DNA 基因座的 DNA 分析，最近的“豹纹拟髭蟾”与同属的绿拟髭蟾之间的未校正配对遗传距离为 0.77-0.96%。分子种的划定方法表明，豹纹拟髭蟾和绿拟髭蟾是一个单一的操作分类单元。使用新采集的标本进行的形态分析，以及大量的照片记录表明，绿拟髭蟾是一个高度多色的物种，其中也存在豹纹拟髭蟾的颜色，但很少见。因此，我们得出结论，豹纹拟髭蟾是绿拟髭蟾的一个次同物异名。
