Leptobatrachus Richards, Donnellan & Mahony 2025, gen. nov.
Year: 2025
Type: other
Abstract: Leptobatrachus Richards, Donnellan & Mahony, gen. nov. (Fig. 19) ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: E426591D-82ED-443F-B500-DF10DF135A0F Type species: Hyla impura Peters & Doria, 1878. Content: Five species— Leptobatrachus flavescens (Kraus and Allison, 2004a) comb. nov., Leptobatrachus impurus * (Peters & Doria, 1878) comb. nov., Leptobatrachus insularis * (Richards and Oliver, 2023) comb.nov., Leptobatrachus luteus * (Boulenger, 1887) comb. nov., Leptobatrachus thesaurensis * (Peters, 1877) comb. nov. Diagnosis: Leptobatrachus can be diagnosed from Cyclorana and Megatestis by the multi-divided state of the m. palmaris longus vs. a reduced state, overall tadpole morphology Type 4 vs. Type 3, and further from Megatestis by long vs. medium legs; from Cyclorana by long vs. short or medium length legs, small vs. large inner metatarsal tubercles, and presence vs. absence (in 12 of 13 species of Cyclorana) of intercalary structures. Refer to Tables 1 and 2. Distribution and ecology: Arboreal frogs that are found in New Guinea and surrounding islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands. Leptobatrachus luteus is known to lay its eggs over tree hollows and bamboo stems (Zug and Fisher 2018; S. Richards, personal observations). Other species known or expected to lay eggs in small, slow-flowing streams or forest pools. Etymology: From the Greek Λεπτός(leptos, slender) and βάτΡαΧος (batrachos, frog), in reference to the slender body form of the species. The gender is masculine. Remarks: Leptobatrachus is the equivalent of the Litoria thesaurensis Group of Tyler and Davies (1978). Leptobatrachus luteus and L. thesaurensis are unusual in pelodryadids in that they have green pigmented bones that can be seen in life through the ventral skin. The bones of both L. flavescens and L. impurus lack the green coloration (Kraus and Allison 2004a, Menzies 2006). Genetic data are not available for Litoria flavescens, but it was placed in the Litoria thesaurensis group in the original description (Kraus and Allison 2004a) and in the Litoria thesaurensis complex by Menzies (2006).
Authors: Donnellan, Stephen C., Mahony, Michael J., Esquerré, Damien, Brennan, Ian G., Price, Luke C., Lemmon, Alan, Lemmon, Emily Moriarty, Günther, Rainer, Monis, Paul, Bertozzi, Terry, Keogh, J. Scott, Shea, Glenn M., Richards, Stephen J.
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7078926136
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