A new species of the Chinese brown frog discovered in Lishui, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

The Zhejiang Provincial Forest Resource Monitoring Center has discovered a new species of the Chinese brown frog in Lishui, according to Tide News on Dec 9.

The new species is the smallest known Chinese brown frog and is currently found only in Longquan, a county-level city in Lishui.

The new species was first discovered by Wang Yufan at a terraced field in Pingnan town in the winter of 2016. It was the breeding season of Zhenhai brown frogs, which measure about 6 centimeters, but the frog Wang discovered was less than half that size.

Following the initial discovery, research teams from the Zhejiang Provincial Forest Resource Monitoring Center, along with Wang's team, conducted extensive field surveys and, through dissections, literature reviews, comparisons with related species, and genetic sequencing, confirmed that the frog is a new species of the Chinese brown frog.

"Adult males of the new species are less than 3 cm in length, and the largest adult female found is only 3.5 cm. The breeding season overlaps with that of the Zhenhai brown frog," said Wang.

Its distinctive features are the dark brown spots behind its eyes, a near-arched shaped lower edge, and very small hind foot webbings, according to Wang.