摘要Amphibians are declining worldwide. At the same time, each year many species of amphibians are described, indicating that biological diversity on Earth remains poorly understood. This is especially true for mountainous regions, such as the Himalayas, which are also regarded as a biodiversity hotspot. However, it is most likely that the current diversity of amphibians in Nepal is highly underestimated. Amphibian inventories by the past researchers primarily used phenotypic characters as the basis for species identification. However, the application of molecular systematics methods to taxonomic studies has successfully uncovered the taxonomic status of several cryptic taxa. This study used both molecular (16S rDNA sequences) and morphological comparisons and estimated the diversity of amphibians from Nepal. This study reports the occurrence of 38 species of amphibians based on both molecular and morphological comparisons. Among them, three species were recorded for the first time in Nepal. This study also invalids the taxonomic status of Sphaerotheca paschima. This study highlights the importance of integrative taxonomic approaches that help to resolve the current taxonomic ambiguities of Nepalese amphibians.
作者单位CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China[1]
Acknowledgements We are thankful to Subarna Ghimire, Bibas Shrestha, Purnaman Shrestha, Bijaya Paudel, Devendra Paudel, Bibek Gautam, Keshab Chokhal, Suman Sapkota and Madan Mishra for their assistance during fieldwork. We are thankful to two anonymous reviewers and Prof. Indraneil Das, Universiti Mfinal version of manuscript. We are grateful to the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) for providing necessary research permits for amphibian study in the Nepal Himalaya. This work was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEPand the National Natural Sciences Foundation of Chinagrants to Jianping JIANG. In addition, Janak Raj Khatiwada was supported by the CAS?TWAS President Fellowship and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship Initiative