Green toads at the Roof of Asia: new distributional and mitochondrial DNA sequence data for the genus Bufotes (Anura, Bufonidae) from the Pamir and adjacent mountain regions

The Pamir and adjacent mountain systems harbor a diverse assemblage of Eurasian green toads ( Bufotes ), including several polyploid taxa, but their distributions remain incompletely documented in this remote and topographically complex region. New distributional records of Bufotes from the Pamir of Tajikistan and the mountain regions of northern Pakistan are reported, based on field surveys conducted in 2020 and 2025. Species identification was assessed using mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences and comparisons with geographically referenced sequence data. The newly generated sequences were assigned to B. baturae , B. pewzowi , and B. latastii , with their phylogenetic placement corresponding to their geographic origins. Most notably, new records substantially extend the known distribution of B. baturae into the southwestern Pamir and southward in northern Pakistan, including the Deosai Plateau, Tarshing Valley near Nanga Parbat, and Kumrat Valley. In the Shokhdara Valley of Tajikistan, records of B. baturae approach the distribution of B. pewzowi , further narrowing the geographic gap between these lineages. A new locality of B. pewzowi in the northwestern Pamir and an additional molecularly confirmed occurrence of B. latastii in Baltistan were also documented. The new records refine the known distributions of these three species and highlight remaining uncertainties concerning the distributional boundaries and potential contact zones of Bufotes lineages across the Pamir and adjacent mountain systems.