Vocal creature — from lands of kung fu masters — found as new species in China
In the mountainous city of Foshan in southern China, the ancient history of the city is entwined with kung fu.
Foshan City was home to renowned kung fu masters, ranging from Fei-Hong Huang and Zan Liang to Yip Man and Bruce Lee.
Here, these martial artists kept ancestral homes and honed their crafts, training to become some of the best in the world.
Now, Foshan City is home to a new species: Leptobrachella kungfu.
During field surveys in and around the city, researchers discovered a small frog in the small, rocky streams, according to a study published Nov. 11 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
Researchers collected six male frogs, and after a closer inspection and genetic analysis, found they belonged to a species new to science.
Leptobrachella kungfu, or the Foshan leaf litter toad, has a small body size measuring about an inch long from snout to butt, according to the study.
The frog’s head is slightly longer than it is wide, and the snout protrudes forward, researchers said.
The ends of the fingers and toes are rounded and swollen, and the frog’s skin is “shagreened and scattered with dense tubercles (bumps) and raised warts,” according to the study.
The underside of the frog, however, is smooth and a creamy white color.
The back of the frog is “grayish brown with indistinct dark brown markings and rounded spots,” researchers said. There is a “dark brown inverted triangular marking” between the eyes, which is “connected to (a) dark brown W-shaped marking” on the head.
There are “distinct dark brown blotches” on the sides of the frogs, and the “surfaces of elbows and upper arms (are) coppery orange,” according to the study.
The frog also has a bicolored iris, meaning the upper half of the eye is “coppery orange” while the other part is “grayish brown.”
The new species was named Leptobrachella kungfu to “commemorate an important cultural aspect of Foshan City,” researchers said.
The species has been found in “clear-water rocky streams” surrounded by forests and granite, according to the study.
“Males were observed calling while perched on rocks or on the leaves of dwarf shrubs near flowing seeps,” researchers said. “The breeding season lasts from February to June according to our long-term observation.”
Researchers still hope to learn more about the species and say their conservation status is unknown.
Foshan City is in central Guangdong Province on the southern coast of China just north of Hong Kong.
The research team includes Qi-Qi Zhang, Shi-Shi Lin, Yuan-Hang Li, Hong-Lin Su, Hong-Hui Chen, Xiu-Yu Zhang, Zhao-Chi Zeng and Jian Wang.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Vocal creature — from lands of kung fu masters — found as new species in China."
