Morphology and molecular genetics reveal two new Leptobrachella species in southern China (Anura, Megophryidae)

Abstract

Based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses (16S rRNA mtDNA), two new species of the genus Leptobrachella are described from southern China, namely L.yunkaiensis Wang, Li, Lyu & Wang, sp. n. from Dawuling Forest Station of Guangdong Province and L.wuhuangmontis Wang, Yang & Wang, sp. n. from Mt. Wuhuang of Guangxi Province. To date, the genus Leptobrachella contains 68 species, among which 13 species are known from China. The descriptions of the two new species further emphasize that the species diversity of the genus Leptobrachella from China is still highly underestimated and requires further investigations.

Description of two cryptic species of the Amolops ricketti group (Anura, Ranidae) from southeastern China

“…Southwestern China has been considered as hotspot area with highest species diversity over time, while southeastern China, which suffers from more human activities, is considered as much less diverse, which may reflect the lack of biodiversity surveys over time. Recently, a number of new amphibian species were described from southeastern China (Lyu et al 2017; Wang et al 2017; Yuan et al 2017; Zeng et al 2017; Lyu et al 2018; Wang et al 2018a; Wang et al 2018b; this study), to be the greatest number of new amphibian species in China in recent times. These discoveries indicate that the species diversity in southeastern China is highly underestimated.…”

A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou Province, China

“…The new species described in this study increases the number of species of Leptobrachella to 75, with 21 recorded from China (Fei et al 2012;Sung et al 2014;Yang et al 2016Yang et al , 2018Yuan et al 2017;Hou et al 2018;Wang et al 2018Wang et al , 2019Chen et al , 2019Frost 2019). Before the description of the new species herein, only 12 species were recorded from southwest China.…”

“…Studies on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Leptobrachella were difficult to perform because of the morphological conservativeness of the species; in the field, many species appear to be very similar morphologically, and there exist sympatric species. This likely hinders our understanding of these cryptic species (Ohler et al 2010;Sung et al 2014;Yang et al 2016Yang et al , 2018Yuan et al 2017;Hou et al 2018;Wang et al 2018Wang et al , 2019Chen et al 2019). The high species diversity and the degree of endemism indicated that the speciation pattern and sympatry mechanism of species in the genus Leptobrachella also need additional investigation.…”

“…By having dorsal surface shagreened with small granules, and in lacking enlarge tubercles or warts, the new species differs from L. applebyi, L. bidoupensis, L. kalonensis, L. melica, L. minima, L. nahangensis, L. shangsiensis and L. tadungensis, all of which have the dorsum smooth, and L. alpina (dorsum smooth, some with small warts), L. fuliginosa (dorsum smooth with fine tubercles), L. laui (dorsum with round granular tubercle, lacking skin ridges), L. liui (dorsum with round tubercles), L. macrops (dorsum roughly granular with large tubercles), L. maoershanensis Table 5. Selected diagnostic characters for species described herein and species in the genus Leptobrachella occurring north of the Isthmus of Kra (modified from Yuan et al 2017;Hou et al 2018;Wang et al 2018). dorsum shagreened and granular).…”

Two new Leptobrachella species (Anura, Megophryidae) from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, southwestern China

“…Leptobrachella species Literature 58 L. petrops (Rowley, Dau, Hoang, Le, Cutajar & Nguyen, 2017) Rowley et al 2017a 59 L. picta (Malkmus, 1992) Malkmus 1992 60 L. platycephala (Dehling, 2012) Dehling 2012a 61 L. pluvialis (Ohler, Marquis, Swan & Grosjean, 2000) Ohler et al 2000, 2011 62 L. puhoatensis (Rowley, Dau & Cao, 2017) Rowley et al 2017b 63 L. purpura Yang et al 2018 64 L. purpuraventra Wang, Li, Li, Chen & Wang, 2019 Wang et al 2019 65 L. pyrrhops (Poyarkov, Rowley, Gogoleva, Vassilieva, Galoyan & Orlov, 2015) Poyarkov et al 66 L. rowleyae (Nguyen, Poyarkov, Le, Vo, Ninh, Duong, Murphy & Sang, 2018) Nguyen et al 2018 67 L. sabahmontana (Matsui, Nishikawa & Yambun, 2014) Matsui et al 2014a 68 L. serasanae Dring, 1983 Dring 1983 69 L. shangsiensis Chen, Liao, Zhou & Mo, 2019 Chen et al 2019 70 L. sola (Matsui, 2006) Matsui 2006 71 L. suiyangensis Luo, Xiao, Gao & Zhou, 2020 Luo et al 2020 72 L. sungi (Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov & Ho, 1998) Lathrop et al 1998 73 L. tadungensis (Rowley, Tran, Le, Dau, Peloso, Nguyen, Hoang, Nguyen & Ziegler, 2016) Rowley et al 2016 74 L. tamdil (Sengupta, Sailo, Lalremsanga, Das & Das, 2010) Sengupta et al 75 L. tengchongensis (Yang, Wang, Chen & Rao, 2016) Yang et al 2016 76 L. tuberosa (Inger, Orlov & Darevsky, 1999) Inger et al 1999 77 L. ventripunctata (Fei, Ye & Li, 1990) Fei et al 2009, 78 L. wuhuangmontis Wang et al 2018 79 L. wulingensis Qian, Xia, Cao, Xiao & Yang, 2020 Qian et al in publication 80 L. yingjiangensis Yang et al 2018 81 L. yunkaiensis Wang, Li, Lyu & Wang, 2018 Wang et al 2018 Paratypes (N = 3). Three adult females, SYS a007744-7745, SYS a007746/ CIB116080, the same collection data as the holotype.…”