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| Leptobrachella murphyi Chen, Suwannapoom, Wu, Poyarkov, Xu, Pawangkhanant & Che, 2021 |
Abstract
The genus Leptobrachella is one of the most speciose and taxonomically troubling groups of Asian anurans. Herein, we describe a new species of Leptobrachella from Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand based on the integration of morphological, acoustic and molecular data. The new species, Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov., is morphologically distinguished from its congeners on the basis of body size, dorsal skin texture and coloration, ventral coloration and pattern, degree of webbing and fringing on the fingers and toes, iris coloration in life, pattern of markings on flanks and pattern of body macroglands. It also differs from its phylogenetically close congeners by an uncorrected p-distance of >9.6% for a fragment of 16S rRNA. The advertisement call of the new species consists of 4.5–4.7 kHz (at 15 °C) and without a distinct introductory note. Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov. likely occurs across the Thanon Thong Chai Range and analyses provide evidence of unknown biodiversity and species composition on Doi (mountain) Inthanon. In addition, the congeneric species L. minima was also confirmed in Doi Inthanon. The coexistence pattern of Leptobrachella in Doi Inthanon deserves further study. As Thailand’s highest mountain and biodiversity reservoir, the need for further biological exploration is urgent given ongoing habitat loss and degradation.
Keywords: Amphibia, Biodiversity hotspot, Cryptic diversity, Integrative taxonomy, Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov., Southeast Asia, Thailand
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| FIGURE 4. Holotype of Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov. (KIZ034039) in life. (A) General dorso-lateral view, (B) dorsal view, (C) ventral view, (D) thenar view of the right hand, (E) plantar view of the right foot, (F) close-up of the iris. Photos by Chatmongkon Suwannapoom. |
Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov.
Chresonymy: Leptolalax sp. — Ohler et al. 2011: 9;
Leptolalax sp. 3 — Chen et al. 2018: 165;
Leptolalax pelodytoides — Taylor 1962.
Etymology. The specific epithet “ murphyi ” is a patronymic noun in the genitive singular; derived from the name of Prof. Robert W. Murphy from the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada, the co-founder of ColdCode, the international effort to DNA barcode species of amphibians and reptiles. We acknowledge his continuous support and inspiration of our study across the country border from China to Southeast Asia. For the common name, we recommend “Chiang Mai Leaf Litter Toad”.
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| FIGURE 6. Paratypes of Leptobrachella murphyi sp. nov. in life in dorso-lateral (upper row) and ventral (lower row) aspects. A: KIZ034038; B: KIZ034158. Photos by Chatmongkon Suwannapoom. |
Jin-Min Chen, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Yun-He Wu, Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Kai Xu, Parinya Pawangkhanant and Jing Che. 2021. Integrative Taxonomy reveals A New Species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from the mountains of northern Thailand. Zootaxa. 5052(2); 41-64. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5052.2.2
