earticle

영어

Although DNA taxonomy and call specific discrimination are readily available, morphological keys are still valuable for an easy and quick identification of species on site. In the Republic of Korea, Hyla japonica occurs throughout the country, whereas H. suweonensis is found in the western central lowlands. H. suweonensis was designated as critically endangered by the Korean government following a rapid population decline. We measured 19 characters for male individuals in the two tree frog species to develop a morphological key for identification. Our morphometrical analyses indicate that the two tree frog species differ in all characters. On average, H. suweonensis is smaller and slender than H. japonica. Additionally, the distributions of five out of 19 characters does not overlap in the two species: the distance between nostril and upper lip (NL), the distance between the posterior corners of eyes (EPD), the length of the semi-minor axis of the upper eye (LlLe), the angle between the two lines connecting the posterior corner of the eyes and the ipsilateral nostrils (αEPD-N) and the angle between the two lines connecting the anterior corners of the eyes and the ipsilateral nostrils (αEAD-N). Because the character difference between the two species is small, all five characters should be used together to reliably distinguish the two tree frog species. Besides being used as a morphological key, our results in size difference lead to several research questions about microhabitat niche selection and competition between the two Korean tree frog species.