A new species of Chinese horned toad (Anura, Megophryidae, Boulenophrys) from western Guangdong Province, China, with recommendations for extinction risk assessments for several related congeners

The genus Boulenophrys is predominantly distributed in China and exhibits high species diversity. However, accurate conservation assessments for this genus are hindered by its unresolved taxonomy, which is linked to morphological conservatism, sympatric distribution patterns, and limited field survey data. In this study, we describe a new species, namely Boulenophrys yangchunensis sp. nov., and report new locality records for B. acuta (Wang, Li & Jin, 2014) and B. yunkaiensis Qi, Wang, Lyu & Wang, 2021 from western Guangdong Province, China.

Additionally, we propose downlisting B. acuta, currently listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, to a lower threat category, and we recommend an extinction risk category update for Boulenophrys yangchunensis sp. nov., B. yunkaiensis, and B. gaolanensis Song, Wang, Qi, Wang & Wang, 2024. We further discuss key conservation challenges and provide targeted management recommendations to address these challenges.