A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from Jinzhongshan National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China

Integrative morphological and molecular evidence supports the recognition of Leptobrachella jinzhongshanensis sp. nov. from Longlin County, Guangxi, China. The new species is distinguished by a combination of characters, including medium body size (snout-vent length 30.4–32.5 mm in males and 40.3–42.8 mm in females), narrow lateral fringes on the toes, absence of toe webbing, continuous dermal ridges beneath the toes, heels that do not meet when the thighs are held at right angles to the body axis, irregular black flank spots, a bicoloured iris and interwoven creamy-white and light-grey markings on the venter.

Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial 16 S rRNA sequences recovered the Jinzhongshan specimens as a strongly supported lineage sister to L. dorsospina, from which they differed by an uncorrected p - distance of 1.4 %. Leptobrachella jinzhongshanensis sp. nov. is currently known only from montane evergreen broadleaf forest at 1,700–1,800 m elevation. Within the Reserve, L. ventripunctata was recorded along streams below 1,000 m, indicating ecological and elevational separation between the two species.