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| Limnonectes phyllofolia Frederick, Iskandar, Riyanto, Hamidy, Reilly, Stubbs, Bloch, Bach & McGuire, 2023 |
Abstract
Herein, we describe a new species of terrestrially-nesting fanged frog from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Though male nest attendance and terrestrial egg deposition is known in one other Sulawesi fanged frog (Limnonectes arathooni), the new species exhibits a derived reproductive mode unique to the Sulawesi assemblage; male frogs guard one or more clutches of eggs festooned to leaves or mossy boulders one to two meters above small slow-moving streams, trickles, or seeps. This island endemic has thus far been collected at three sites on Sulawesi: one in the Central Core of the island, and two on the Southwest Peninsula—south of the Tempe Depression (a major biogeographical boundary). The new Limnonectes has the smallest adult body size among its Sulawesi congeners—with a maximum snout-vent length of about 30 millimeters. Beyond its unique reproductive behavior and body size, the species is further diagnosed on the basis of advertisement call and genetic distance from sympatric fanged frogs. The discovery and description of the new species highlights the remarkable reproductive trait diversity that characterizes the Sulawesi fanged frog assemblage despite that most species in this radiation have yet to be formally described.
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| Limnonectes phyllofolia sp. nov. in life. (A) A male L. phyllofolia (no voucher) guards an egg clutch on a leaf 0.2 meters above a slow spring-fed stream on Gunung Balease—24 October 2010, 21:05 h. (B) A male L. phyllofolia, MVZ:Herp:295234, guards an egg clutch 0.6 m up on a 2 m tall mossy boulder overhanging a stream in Bantimurung National Park—25 June 2014, 20:30 h. (C) A male L. phyllofolia, MVZ:Herp:295430, guards an egg clutch on a leaf 0.2 m above a puddle in Bantimurung National Park—25 June 2014, 22:25 h. (D) A male L. phyllofolia, MVZ:Herp:295248, guards an egg clutch on a mossy boulder 1 m above a 1 m wide cascading stream in Bantimurung National Park—25 June 2014, 21:38 h. (E) A male L. phyllofolia (no voucher) guards an egg clutch on a leaf while larvae hatch and drop into the water below. |
Limnonectes phyllofolia sp. nov.
Diagnosis: L. phyllofolia sp. nov. can be diagnosed on the basis of the following combination of character states: (1) small body size, (2) reduced webbing, (3) unique advertisement call, (4) a heretofore unique reproductive mode, and (5) by geographic range—being restricted to localities on the Southwest Peninsula and the southeastern quadrant of Sulawesi’s Central Core.
Etymology: We have informally referred to this species as Limnonectes sp. “leaf-nester” in reference to its characteristic reproductive mode. We therefore opted to memorialize this in its formal specific epithet, “phyllofolia”, which is derived from the combination of the greek fýllo—meaning “leaf”, and foliá—meaning “nest”.
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| Eggs and newly hatched larvae of Limnonectes phyllofolia sp. nov. (A) A male L. phyllofolia, MVZ:Herp:295236, guards two egg clutches on a sapling 2 m above a 1 m wide stream in Bantimurung National Park. (B) Example of dual egg clutches (guarded by MVZ:Herp:295224) deposited on fern frond 0.6 m above a puddle in Bantimurung National Park. (C) Example of eggs from clutch guarded by MVZ:Herp:295224—clutch was collected from leaves 0.75 m above a puddle on 24 June 2014, 19:00 h from Bantimurung National Park. (D) Example of eggs from clutch guarded by MVZ:Herp:295236—clutch was collected from leaves of a sapling tree, 2 m above a 1 m wide stream on 25 June 2014 at 21:38 h from Bantimurung National Park. (E) Example of newly hatched tadpoles. The associated clutch was guarded by MVZ:Herp:295246, and collected on a mossy boulder 1.5 m above a 1 m wide stream on 25 June 2014 at 21:38 h from Bantimurung National Park. |
Jeffrey H. Frederick, Djoko T. Iskandar, Awal Riyanto, Amir Hamidy, Sean B. Reilly, Alexander L. Stubbs, Luke M. Bloch, Bryan Bach and Jimmy A. McGuire. 2023. A New Species of terrestrially-nesting Fanged Frog (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. PLoS ONE. 18(12): e0292598. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292598
