Two new species discovered at Wuyishan National Park in SE China’s Fujian

Chinese researchers found a new species of frog in the Ranidae family and a new species of macro fungi in the Wuyishan National Park in southeast China's Fujian province, according to the park’s administration bureau.

A Wuyi brown frog (Photo provided by the interviewee)

The two species were discovered during a comprehensive background investigation into biological resources conducted by researchers at the national park.

First found in the national park in August, the frog was named as the Wuyi brown frog (Rana wuyiensis), said Wu Yanqing, assistant researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, adding that it has only been spotted in the national park so far.

After carrying out research on the frog, including gene sequencing, the researchers figured out that it was genetically divergent from a closely related species, which was only recorded in provincial regions covering Hunan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Hainan, as well as North Vietnam. The researchers thus concluded that it was a new species.

The Typhrasa polycystis (Photo provided by the interviewee)

The discovery of the new frog species has provided further proof of the rich biodiversity in the national park, Wu said.

Another newly-discovered species in the national park is the Typhrasa polycystis, which belongs to Typhrasa, a rare genus that comprises two species and that has previously been reported only in Europe and North America, according to Hu Yaping, assistant researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The Wuyishan National Park is rich in biodiversity. Scientists have discovered five other new species in the national park since the Wuyi Mountain scenic spot was included into China’s pilot program for national parks in 2016.