AmphibiaChina 中国两栖类.

Conservation Status (definitions)

IUCN Red List Status Account CITES No CITES Listing National Status None Regional Status None

Description
Odorrana concelata is a small, slender species of frog described from five males and two females. Males are between 34.0 mm and 36.8 mm in snout-vent length, while the females are 41.4 mm and 46.0 mm in snout-vent length. The head is longer than wide with a short snout that is rounded in the dorsal view and projects over the lower jaw. The round nostrils are positioned laterally and closer to the snout tip than the eye. The canthus rostralis is distinct. The loreal region is concave and oblique. The distance between the nostrils is greater than the distance between the eyes. The large eye is prominent and has a diameter that is shorter than the snout length. The large tympanum is round with a slightly elevated rim. There is a weak supratympanic fold extending for the posterior corner of the eye to the posterior edge of the tympanum. A small pineal body is present. The dorsal skin is generally only slightly granular. The loreal region is smooth, but may have conical spines in the temporal region, excluding the tympanum, corner of the mouth, and upper edge of the eyelid. The species lacks dorsolateral folds. The ventral skin is smooth with no pectoral spines. Males lack vocal sacs. The forelimbs are slender, as are the fingers. The inner metacarpal tubercle is elongate and oval and the outer metacarpal tubercle is oval. In males, nuptial pads are found at the base of finger I and medially along the inner side of fingers II and III. It exhibits a relative finger length sequence of II < I < IV < III without webbing or lateral fringes. There is one subarticular tubercle on fingers I and II and two on fingers III and IV. The tips of the fingers expand into discs that have circummarginal and horizontal grooves. The hind limbs are also slender. When the legs are held at right angles to the body, the heels overlap. When the leg is adpressed along the body, the tibiotarsal articulation reaches the nostrils. The inner metatarsal tubercle is elongated and oval, about the length of the first toe. The outer metatarsal tubercle is absent. The fully webbed toes have a relative toe length of I < II < III < V < IV. The subarticular tubercles are prominent and have a formula of: 1, 1, 2, 3, 2. The toe tips expand into discs with circummarginal grooves (Lin et al. 2022).

DIAGNOSIS:

Odorrana concelata is phylogenetically closest to the clade comprising of O. lipuensis and O. liboensis. However, it can be distinguished from these species and other related species based on several characteristics. Firstly, O. concelata exhibits a smaller body size, with male snout-vent lengths measuring between 34.0 mm and 36.8 mm and females measuring between 41.4 mm and 46.0 mm. In contrast, male O. lipuensis have a snout-vent length range of 40.7 mm to 49.8 mm and females range from 51.1 mm to 60.1 mm. Male O. liboensis measure between 47.1 mm and 49.9 mm and females measure between 55.8 mm and 58.2 mm. Additionally, O. concelata possesses a pineal body, which is absent in both O. lipuensis and O. liboensis. It also exhibits the presence of nuptial pads on the base of finger I and medially along the inner side of fingers II and III, whereas O. lipuensis and O. liboensis only have a nuptial pad on finger I in males. Relative finger lengths in O. concelata follow the sequence, II < I < IV < III, while in O. lipuensis the sequence is I = II < IV < III. Furthermore, O. concelata lacks conical spines on the upper lip except for the skin of the commissure of the jaw, whereas O. lipuensis has conical spines on the entire upper lip. The tibiotarsal articulation reaches the nostril in O. concelata, whereas it reaches the anterior of the eye in O. lipuensis. Finally, O. concelata features tiny conical spines in the temporal region except for the tympanum, skin of the commissure of the jaw, upper edge of the eyelid, and along the dorsolateral sides of the body. These spines are absent in O. liboensis (Lin et al. 2022).

The lack of vocal sacs easily distinguishes O. concelata from other species of Odorrana, including O. absita, O. amamiensis, O. anlungensis, O. aureola, O. bacboensis, O. banaorum, O. bolavensis, O. cangyuanensis, O. chapaensis, O. chloronota, O. dulongensis, O. exiliversabilis, O. fengkaiensis, O. geminata, O. gigatympana, O. grahami, O. graminea, O. hainanensis, O. hejiangensis, O. huanggangensis, O. indeprensa, O. ichangensis, O. ishikawae, O. jingdongensis, O. junlianensis, O. khalam, O. kweichowensis, O. lungshengensis, O. macrotympana, O. morafkai, O. nanjiangensis, O. nasica, O. nasuta, O. orba, O. sangzhiensis, O. schmackeri, O. swinhoana, O. tianmuii, O. tiannanensis, O. tormota, O. trankieni, O. utsunomiyaorum, O. versabilis, O. yentuensis, O. yizhangensis and O. yunnanensis. Absence of dorsolateral folds also differentiates it from O. absita, O. amamiensis, O. banaorum, O. bolavensis, O. exiliversabilis, O. gigatympana, O. graminea, O. indeprensa, O. hosii, O. khalam, O. livida, O. leporipes, O. monjerai, O. narina, O. nasica, O. nasuta, O. orba, O. supranarina, O. tormota, O. trankieni, O. utsunomiyaorum, O. versabilis, and O. yentuensis. Compared to the remaining seven congeners - O. kuangwuensis, O. margaretae, O. mutschmanni, O. mawphlangensis, O. rotodora, O. sinica, and O. splendida - O. concelata exhibits marked differences in dorsal and ventral coloration and has a smaller body size (Lin et al. 2022).

COLORATION:

In life, the dorsum, limbs, and flanks display irregular moss-green speckles and patches of brown coloration. On the limbs, there also are horizontal brown bands. The undersides of the body have a grayish white hue with subtle light brown mottling. The ventral skin of the forelimbs appears grayish white, while the ventral skin of the hind limbs is purplish brown. The iris is black, featuring irregular reticulated gold-green mottles. The pineal body is characterized by a light green coloration. The tympanum is dark brown. Males possess creamy white nuptial pads (Lin et al. 2022).

In preservative, the skin of the dorsum, limbs, and flanks takes on a greyish brown coloration, with brown mottling and dark brown transverse bands. The moss-green speckles present in life are absent. The venter is grayish white with brown mottling. The ventral skin of the thighs displays a similar grayish white color, while the ventral skin of the shank and foot takes on a darker grey tone with mottling in dark brown (Lin et al. 2022).

VARIATION:

Morphology and color patterns between individuals are similar with a few exceptions. There may be tiny spines on the trunk and the sparse spines present in the temporal region may be absent. Additionally, nuptial pads may be absent. Lastly, females display a larger body size (Lin et al. 2022).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: . Introduced: China.

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Odorrana concelata is known only from the type locality in Longlinchang Village near the city of Qingyuan in northern Guangdong, China. The species is adapted to the karst environment and can be found residing on mossy rocks and moist forest floors within subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests and secondary forests. Its habitat is typically situated at elevations ranging from 200 to 300 m (Lin et al. 2022).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Odorrana concelata is a nocturnal species (Lin et al. 2022).

Its coloration allows the frogs to be well hidden in their habitat (Lin et al. 2022).

The breeding season is from March to June, when the frogs gather in the vicinity of small, steep waterfalls that are adorned with moss, which flow out of the karst caves. Females produce eggs that are uniform beige in color (Lin et al. 2022).

Trends and Threats
Exploitation and insufficient legal protection of karstic landscapes pose a threat to the survival of this endemic species. Odorrana concelata is a karst-endemic, and as of 2023, it is found exclusively at the type locality despite frequent surveys in northern Guangdong. Due to their preferred habitat of specific wet mossy areas, their geographic distribution is greatly restricted. Unfortunately, degradation of their habitat due to tourism development and local religious practices is a significant concern. Increasing tourism has led to the accumulation of waste, in particular plastic products, while local worship activities have resulted in microhabitat destruction (Lin et al. 2022).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Local pesticides, fertilizers, and pollutants

Comments

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS:

Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses, using 16S ribosomal RNA and 12S ribosomal RNA, found that O. concelata forms a monophyletic clade that is sister to the clade formed by O. lipuensis and O. liboensis (Lin et al. 2022).

ETYMOLOGY:

The specific epithet, “concelata”, is an adjective meaning “disguised,” in reference to how these frogs’ coloration allows them to be highly concealed in their mossy habitat (Lin et al. 2022).

OTHER INTERESTING INFORMATION:

This species is the first reported karst-dwelling Odorrana population from Guangdong (Lin et al. 2022).

References
Lin S-S, Li Y-H, Su H-L, Yi H, Pan Z, Sun Y-J, Zeng Z-C, Wang J (2022). Discovery of a new limestone karst-restricted odorous frog from northern Guangdong, China (Anura, Ranidae, Odorrana). ZooKeys 1120, 47–66. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2023 Odorrana concelata: Moss-speckled Odorous Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/9565> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed May 16, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 16 May 2025.

AmphibiaWeb's policy on data use.