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| Stumpffia froschaueri
Crottini, Rosa, Penny, Cocca, Holderied, Rakotozafy & Andreone, 2020
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Abstract
A new species of the miniaturised microhylid frog genus Stumpffia, from north-western Madagascar, is described. Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov. differs from all other described Stumpffia species in colouration and morphology and is genetically divergent (≥ 7% uncorrected p-distance to all other nominal species of the genus) in a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and in a segment of the nuclear Rag-1 gene. The new species is reliably known only from a few specimens collected in the Sahamalaza (and surroundings) region. Its known distribution is limited to three forest patches severely threatened by fire, drought and high levels of forest clearance, thus suggesting a classification of “Critically Endangered” according to IUCN Red List criteria.
Keywords: Amphibia, Conservation, Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov., UNESCO Sahamalaza – îles Radama Biosphere Reserve, Angorony Forest
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| Figure 1. Life colouration of Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov. A dorsolateral view of holotype ZSM 169/2019 (ACZCV 0940) from Anketsakely (Anabohazo Forest) B dorsolateral view of paratype ZSM 166/2019 (ACZCV 0939) from Ankarafa Forest C dorsolateral view of paratype ZSM 168/2019 (ACZCV 0966) from Ankarafa Forest D dorsolateral view of paratype ZSM 167/2019 (ACZCV 0968) from Ankarafa Forest. Pictures by Gonçalo M. Rosa |
Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov.
Remarks: The species has been previously listed as Stumpffia sp. aff. pygmaea “Sahamalaza” in Penny et al. (2016) and Stumpffia sp. aff. pygmaea Ca “Sahamalaza” (UCS) in Penny et al. (2017), Stumpffia sp. 30 in Klages et al. (2013) and S. sp. Ca30 in Rakotoarison et al (2017). The latter two names only in the case of specimens DRV6457 and DRV6451, now considered conspecific with Stumpffia froschaueri sp. nov. Specimen DRV6487 should continue to be referred as S. sp. Ca30.
Diagnosis: A species assigned to the small-sized/miniaturised species of Clade A (Clade A1 + A2) of the genus Stumpffia based on the small size, absence of digital reduction, absence of enlarged discs on fingers and toes, occurrence in the north-west of Madagascar. The species is placed in Clade A2, which contains four nominal species (S. madagascariensis, S. pygmaea, S. yanniki Rakotoarison, Scherz, Glaw, Köhler, Andreone, Franzen, Glos, Hawlitschek, Jono, Mori, Ndriantsoa, Raminosoa, Riemann, Rödel, Rosa, Vieites, Crottini & Vences, 2017, S. analamaina Klages, Glaw, Köhler, Müller, Hipsley & Vences, 2013), most similar to S. pygmaea and S. analamaina but strongly divergent in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from these species (and see differential diagnosis below). Although we lack bioacoustic data for this taxon, we here suggest its status as new species due to the high genetic differentiation from all other species in Clade A (pairwise 16S distance ranging from 7.8% to 12.3%), a lack of haplotype sharing in the Rag-1 analysed fragment, and a combination of morphological characters: (1) miniature to small-sized species (SVL 8.9–12.8 mm); (2) manus with four fingers (not obviously reduced in length) and pes with five toes (first toe slightly reduced in length); (3) terminal phalanges of fingers and toes without enlarged discs; (4) relative hand and foot length, HAL/SVL 0.18–0.19, FOTL/SVL 0.59–0.69; (5) dorsum smooth or very slightly tubercular; (6) brownish colouration with indistinct pattern and without contrasted ventral colouration, red colour elements on ventral side, or sharp colour border between dorsum and flanks, presence of darker blotches in the lateral portion.
Etymology: The species name is a patronym in the genitive case, honouring Christoph Froschauer (ca. 1490 – April 1564). His family name means “the man from the floodplain full of frogs”. Froschauer was the first, and European wide renowned, printer in Zürich and he used to sign his books with a woodcut showing frogs under a tree in a landscape. He was notably known for printing Conrad Gessner’s encyclopaedic “Historia animalium” and the “Zürich Bible”, a complete translation into German of the Bible several years before Luther’s Bible appeared. Froschauer published works by Zwingli, Bullinger, Gessner, Erasmus von Rotterdam and Luther during his lifetime. His activity represents the nucleus of the Orell Füssli publishing house, which celebrated its 500th birthday on 9th November 2019, which is the date he was given citizenship in Zürich as a gift for his art.
Distribution: This species is known only from north-western Madagascar and apparently restricted to three forest blocks embedded in a matrix of highly degraded habitat: 1) Anketsakely (within Anabohazo Forest block), 2) Ankarafa Forest, and 3) Angorony Forest. The latter locality is assigned to this species based on the DNA sequences deposited in GenBank (accession numbers KC351357 and KC351351) that correspond to specimens DRV6457 and DRV6451 (not examined by us). This forest fragment lays in close proximity to Sahamalaza Peninsula and it is ca. 30 km away from Anketsakely. The range encompasses elevations from 100–340 m above sea level.
Natural history: In Anketsakely and Ankarafa this species has been found only in areas with relatively undisturbed forest. Active individuals were found during the day within the leaf-litter on the forest floor, where discreet calling males were also detected.
Angelica Crottini, Gonçalo M. Rosa, Samuel G. Penny, Walter Cocca, Marc W. Holderied, Lovasoa M. S. Rakotozafy and Franco Andreone. 2020. A New Stump-toed Frog from the Transitional Forests of NW Madagascar (Anura, Microhylidae, Cophylinae, Stumpffia). ZooKeys. 933: 139-164. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.933.47619
