How little is known about “the little brown frogs”: description of three new species of the genus <i>Leptobrachella</i> (Anura: Megophryidae) from Yunnan Province, China
Jinmin Chen, Kai Xu, Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Kai Wang, Zhiyong Yuan, Mian Hou, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Jian Wang, Jing Che
Abstract
Asian leaf-litter toads of the genus <i>Leptobrachella</i> represent a great anuran diversification in Asia. Previous studies have suggested that the diversity of this genus is still underestimated. During herpetological surveys from 2013 to 2018, a series of <i>Leptobrachella</i> specimens were collected from the international border areas in the southern and western parts of Yunnan Province, China. Subsequent analyses based on morphological and molecular data revealed three distinct and previously unknown lineages, which we formally describe as three new species herein. Among them, we describe a new species that occurs at the highest known elevation for <i>Leptobrachella</i> in China. Four species of <i>Leptobrachella</i>, including two new species, are found in the same reserve. Furthermore, our results suggest that the population from Longchuan County, Yunnan, may represent an additional new species of <i>Leptobrachella</i>, although we tentatively assigned it to <i>Leptobrachella</i> cf. <i>yingjiangensis</i> due to the small sample size examined. Lastly, we provide the first description of females of <i>L. yingjiangensis</i>. Our results further highlight that both micro-endemism and sympatric distributions of species are common patterns in <i>Leptobrachella</i>, that contribute to taxonomic and conservation challenges in these frogs. We provide an identification key for <i>Leptobrachella</i> known to occur in Yunnan. Given the lack of knowledge on species diversity of <i>Leptobrachella</i> along international border areas, we recommend that future studies include trans-boundary collaborative surveys.