The Leptobrachium genus is currently composed of 36 species distributed in Southern China, India, islands of the Sunda Shelf, and the Philippines (Frost 2019). In China, 11 species of the genus Leptobrachium are currently known (AmphibiaChina 2019), of which, the following nine are Chinese endemic: L. bompu (Sondhi & Ohler 2011), L. boringii (Liu 1945), L. guangxiense (Fei, Mo, Ye & Jiang 2009), L. hainanense (Ye & Fei 1993), L. huashen (Fei & Ye 2005), L. leishanense (Liu & Hu 1973), L. liui (Pope 1947), L. promustache (Rao, Wilkinson & Zhang 2006) and L. tengchongense (Yang, Wang & Chan 2016). These species have different morphologies, narrow distribution areas, and their taxonomy is subject to controversy (AmphibiaChina 2019). The megophryid genus Leptobrachium was considered to contain two subgenera Vibrissaphora and Leptobrachium (Matsui et al. 2010). Five Leptobrachium species, L. ailaonicum, L. boringii, L. leishanense, L. liui, and L. promustache, were originally classified as Vibrissaphora, based on adult males bearing spines on the upper lip (Fei & Ye 2016). However, recent phylogenetic studies showed that Vibrissaphora was not a subgenus and placed within the genus Leptobrachium (Zheng et al. 2008; Matsui et al. 2010).
