A new species of Leptobrachella (Anura: Megophryidae) from central Guangxi, China

A new species of the genus Leptobrachella, Leptobrachella damingshanensis sp. nov. is described from central Guangxi, China, based on morphological, molecular, and acoustic data. Phylogenetic analyses using a 16S rRNA gene fragment indicated that the new species formed an independent clade close to L. nahangensis and L. nyx. However, the new species differs from all known congeners based on a combination of the following characters: medium size (snout-vent length (SVL) 33.6–34.4 mm in males); pair of distinct jacinth humeral glands on proximal thigh area; rough dorsal skin with sparse jacinth tubercles and several short longitudinal ridges; creamy white ventral surface with small, creamy white glands on throat, chest, belly, and ventral surfaces of thighs, becoming more concentrated near lateral margin; webbing and lateral fringes absent on fingers, toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes; flanks with small irregular black spots; iris bicolored, upper half copper, fading to silver in lower half. Uncorrected p-distances were greater than 4.7% between Leptobrachella damingshanensis sp. nov. and all homologous DNA sequences available for the 16S rRNA gene. The new species is only known to occur in the Damingshan National Nature Reserve, where it inhabits montane evergreen forests between 1 000–1 200 m a.s.l.