The fourth species of Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) found at Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China

By

Chen, Weicai
Li, Peng
Peng, Wanxiao
Liu, Youjun
Huang, Yong

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1192

Pages

257--279

Subjects

bioacoustics , Morphology , Phylogeny , sympatric species

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1192.98352

 

Abstract

A new species of the genus Leptobrachella, L. guinanensissp. nov., is described in this study based on morphological, molecular, and bioacoustic data. The species was discovered in the Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve in Shangsi County, Guangxi, China. Phylogenetically, L. guinanensissp. nov. is closely related to L. ventripunctata. However, there are distinct morphological differences between L. guinanensissp. nov. and L. ventripunctata, as well as three other sympatric species (L. shangsiensis, L. shiwandashanensis, and L. sungi). These differences include body size (SVL 30.5–32.5 mm in males; 38.7–41.8 mm in females in the new species vs 25.5–28.0 mm in males, 31.5–35.0 mm in females in L. ventripunctata), the absence of brown spots on the ventral surface (vs chest and belly creamy white with many scattered brown spots in L. ventripunctata), 1/3 toe webbing and wide toe lateral fringes (vs no toe webbing and no lateral fringes in L. ventripunctata), and distinct dermal ridges under toes (vs absent in L. ventripunctata). Furthermore, the dominant vocal frequencies of the new species range from 7.3 to 8.3 kHz, which is unique compared to other Leptobrachella species and represents the highest dominant frequencies ever recorded. The Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve is now home to four known sympatric species of Leptobrachella.