Abstract:

China has a total of 591 amphibian species (not including alien invasive species) as of the end of 2021 and is one of the countries with the richest amphibian diversity in the world. The species traits of amphibians affect their survival in the environment and play an important role in the study of evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation biology. AmphibiaChina (https://www.amphibiachina.org) has compiled some data on the life-history traits, ecological traits, and geographical distribution of Chinese amphibians. However, we still lack an accessible database of the species traits of Chinese amphibians. Through extensive retrieval and searching, we systematically collected data on 22 characteristic traits related to the life-history, ecology, and geographic distribution of all the 591 amphibian species in China. The 22 characteristic traits included: the discovered time of species, holotype location, China Red List status, IUCN Red List status, threatened factors, Chinese endemism, insular endemism, body size of male/female, clutch size, egg size, breeding site, primary larval habitat, adult microhabitat, activity cycle, reproductive cycle, breeding time, parental care, fertilization type, elevational range, domestic distribution, and the number of provinces distributed. Except for the discovered time of species, domestic distribution, the number of provinces distributed, and insular endemism, the data on other traits were incomplete to varying degrees. The data completeness varied from 27.92% to 100%, with the mean completeness of 71.72% and a standard deviation of 24%. This dataset is the latest and most complete one of species traits of all the amphibian species native to China. This dataset can provide data support for the research of the ecology, conservation biology, and biogeography of Chinese amphibians.

Key words: Chinese amphibians, ecological traits, life-history traits, biogeographic distribution, breeding traits