Description of two new sympatric species of the genusLeptolalax(Anura: Megophryidae) from western Yunnan of China

Abstract

The Asian leaf litter toads of the genus Leptolalax represent a highly diverse species group and currently contain 53 recognized species. During herpetological surveys in Yingjiang County, western Yunnan of China, we collected series of Leptolalax specimens from an isolated small fragment of montane evergreen forest. Subsequent study based on acoustic, morphological and molecular data reveals that there were three different species among the specimens sampled: while one of them belongs to Leptolalax ventripunctataus, the other two species represent unknown taxa and are described herein: Leptolalax purpurus sp. nov. and Leptolalax yingjiangensis sp. nov. The two new species can be distinguished from other congeners by the molecular divergences, acoustic data, and by a combination of morphological characters including: body size, dorsal and ventral patterns, dorsal skin texture, sizes of pectoral and femoral glands, degree of webbing and fringing on the toes and fingers, dorsum coloration and iris coloration in life. Our results further reveal that species diversity of the genus Leptolalax still remains highly underestimated and warrants further attention.

Impact of the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution and Anthropogenic Factors on the Dispersion of Asian Black-Spined Toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

“…This result supports the idea that these two groups of sub-clades may be segregated by differences in landscape and altitude, consistent with the geological uplift of the Hengduan mountain in the Eastern Tibeto-Himalayan region that caused a dramatic elevational shift [ 113 ]. This uplifting has already been linked to sympatric speciation in other amphibians, such as Amolops in Myanmar [ 114 ], and the leaf litter toads, Leptolalax purpurus and Leptolalax yingjiangensis in Western Yunnan [ 115 ].…”

A new species of the genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou, China

“…With the development of DNA barcoding technology and extensive fieldwork, more and more cryptic species in this genus have been reported. From 2016 to 2020, a total of 28 species were described (Eto et al 2016(Eto et al , 2018Rowley et al 2016Rowley et al , 2017aYang et al 2016Yang et al , 2018Yuan et al 2017;Duong et al 2018;Hou et al 2018;Nguyen et al 2018;Wang et al , 2019Chen et al 2019Chen et al , 2020Hoang et al 2019;Li et al 2020;Luo et al 2020). The discovery of these species indicates that the species diversity of the genus is underestimated, and there still may be a large number of undiscovered cryptic species.…”

“…In China, the genus Leptobrachella is currently known to comprise 25 species, including L. alpinus, L. bourreti, L. eos, L. laui, L. liui, L. mangshanensis, L. maoershanensis, L. nyx, L. oshanensis, L. pelodytoides, L. purpura, L. sungi, L. tenngchongensis, L. ventripunctatus, L. wuhuangmontis, L. yingjiangensis, L. yunkaiensis, L. shangsiensis, L. bijie, L. purpuraventra, L. chishuiensis, L. feii, L. flaviglandulosa, L. niveimontis, and L. suiyangensis, occurs widely in Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou Province (Chen et al 2018;Wang et al 2018;Yang et al 2018;Chen et al 2019;Wang et al 2019;Amphibian China 2020;Li et al 2020;Luo et al 2020). More than half of the species of this genus were described in last three years, with more potential new species suggested by previous studies (Chen et al 2018).…”

Morphology, molecular genetics, and acoustics reveal two new species of the genus Leptobrachella from northwestern Guizhou Province, China (Anura, Megophryidae)

“…The Asian leaf litter toad genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 currently contains seventy-one species, widely distributed from southern China west to northeastern India and Myanmar, through mainland Indochina to peninsular Malaysia and the island of Borneo (Eto et al 2018; Frost 2017; Nguyen et al 2018; Rowley et al 2016, 2017; Yang et al 2016; Yuan et al 2017). Currently, 14 species of this genus are known from China, i.e., L.alpinus from Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, L.laui from southern Guangdong Province including Hong Kong, L.liui from Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, L.mangshanensis from southern Hunan Province, L.oshanensis from Gansu, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou and Hubei provinces, L.cf.pelodytoides (which may be a population of L.eos (Ohler et al 2011)), L.purpura , L.tengchongensis , L.ventripuntatus and L.yingjiangensis from Yunnan Province, L.wuhuangmontis from southern Guangxi Province, L.yunkaiensis from western GuangdongProvince, and L.sungi and L.maoershanensis from Guangxi Province (Hou et al 2018; Sung et al 2014; Wang et al 2018; Yang et al 2016; Yuan et al 2017, Yang et al 2018).…”