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, 2019
• 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

Further reading

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

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