A new species of the genus Leptobrachella (Amphibia, Anura, Megophryidae) from the Darongshan Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China

A new species of the genus Leptobrachella, L. darongshanensis sp. nov., is described from the Darongshan Nature Reserve, Yulin City, Guangxi, China, integrating molecular, morphological, and bioacoustic evidence. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) medium body size (SVL 24.9–27.7 mm in males; 32.0– 35.4 mm in females); (2) dorsal skin rough with small, raised tubercles and ridges; (3) ventral surface creamy white with minute irregular textures and tiny pale brown spots laterally on the belly; (4) flanks bearing irregular black spots; (5) distinct black supratympanic line; (6) rudimentary toe webbing on toes I – IV and absence of lateral dermal fringes on toes; (7) distinct, continuous ventrolateral glandular line; (8) iris bicolored, upper half tangerine, lower half silver with black reticulations, pupil black with tangerine edges; (9) tibiotarsal articulation reaching the posterior margin of the eye when adpressed; (10) advertisement calls with dominant frequencies of 6.1–6.7 kHz at 20.0 ° C. Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial 16 S rRNA gene indicate that L. darongshanensis sp. nov. and L. shiwandashanensis are sister taxa.

The new species is currently known only from montane evergreen forests at elevations between 800 and 1,200 m within the Darongshan Nature Reserve, where it is sympatric with L. yunkaiensis.