By means of the squash technique of the intestinal epithelium, the karyotypes of
Rana sauteri and
Rana latouchii from Taiwan are investigated. These two species, like many other members of the genus
Rana, show 26 chromosomes which consist of 5 large-sized pairs and 8 small-sized pairs. The chromosome morphology of the large pairs is similar to that of the other common
Rana species, leaving the small pairs which show a characteristic feature in respective species. The morphology of 2 small pairs of
R. sauteri is different from that of any other Taiwan and Japanese ranids. Based on genotypic and phenotypic evidence we suppose that
R. sauteri could be an intermediate type of the brown-frog group and the genus
Amalops. The chromosomes of
Rana latouchii are also dissimilar to those of typical brown frogs in Japan. Evidence presented here corresponds to the results of the external morphology in both larval and adult individuals of this species.
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