Lateral view of male holotype of Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. in life
Leptolalax bidoupensis
Rowley, Le, Tran, & Hoang, 2011
Abstract
We describe a new species of small megophryid frog from the Langbian Plateau in southern Vietnam, the southernmost record of Leptolalax from Vietnam. Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of a dark brownish red ventral surface with white speckling on entire ventral surface including throat, arms and legs, small size (23.6–24.6 mm in four adult males and 29.2–29.4 mm in two adult females), bicoloured iris (coppery red upper half, fading to pale silver ventrally), a mostly smooth skin texture with no skin ridges, and relatively short tibia (male TIB:SVL 0.44–0.46). The male advertisement call of the new species, consisting of 6–9 single-pulsed notes with a dominant frequency of 1.9–3.8 kHz, is also unique among Leptolalax species for which calls are known. From the morphologically similar L. applebyi and L. melicus, L. bidoupensis sp. nov. differs by 9.3% and 9.6% sequence divergence at the 16S mtDNA gene. At present, the new species is known from montane evergreen forest between 1620–1730 m elevation, within an area of 1 sq.km. We suggest the species should be considered Data Deficient following IUCN’s Red List categories.
Key words: Acoustics, Anura, Da Lat Plateau, Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov., Lam Dong Province, Langbian Plateau, Southeast Asia, Vietnam
Etymology: specific epithet is in reference to the type locality of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park.
FIGURE 2. (A) Lateral view of male holotype (AMS R 173133) of L. bidoupensis sp. nov. in life, and (B) ventral views of gravid female paratype (AMS R 173134) and male holotype (AMS R 173133) of L. bidoupensis sp. nov. in life.
FIGURE 5. Iris colouration in life of (A) Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. NCSM77320, (B) Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. AMS R 173134, (C) Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. AMS R 173133, (D–E) Leptolalax applebyi, and (F) Leptolalax melicus MVZ 258199.
FIGURE 1. Collection site of Leptolalax bidoupensis sp. nov. from Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park (black star) and type localities of Leptolalax applebyi (white circle) and Leptolalax melicus (black circles).
Leptolalax bidoupensis is known only from the Langbian Plateau in southern Vietnam, and is the southernmost record of the genus from Vietnam.: jodirowley.com/index/Leptolalax_bidoupensis
Rowley, J. J. L., Le, D. T. T., Tran, D. T. A. and Hoang, D. Y. 2011. A New Species of Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from southern Vietnam. Zootaxa. 2796:15-28. Fulltext
