title: Distinct specific status of the Korean brown frog, Rana amurensis coreana (Amphibia: Ranidae).
abstract: We used morphological and genetic data to assess the taxonomic status of Rana amurensis coreana and R. a. amurensis. Morphological comparisons revealed these two subspecies to be different from each other in size of body, nature of tubercles on dorsal stripe, degree of development in toe webbing, and condition of lateral spots of trunk. They were also different in sequence of mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene, with genetic distance as large as those observed among different species of brown frogs. Therefore, Korean populations previously considered a subspecies of R. amurensis should be regarded as a distinct species (=R. coreana).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Korea. song@seoul.korea.com
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Kyu-Hoi
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Hong-Shik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Wenge
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D011898:Ranidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012313:RNA