Unnoticed for a Century and a Half: Bornean Leaf Litter Frog, Leptobrachella gracilis, is Not a Single Species (Anura, Megophryidae)

A Bornean megophryid, Leptobrachella gracilis (Günther, 1872), the type species of now synonymized genus Leptolalax, proved to contain two different call types that differ in various aspects of advertisement calls including pulse repetition rate and dominant frequency. Genetic analyses of mtDNA and nuDNA of these two types (slow- and fast-call) co-occurring at the type locality, Matang, Sarawak, revealed them to be heterospecific with no evidence of gene exchange. The female holotype of L. gracilis is estimated to belong to the slow-call type based on morphological similarities. We therefore describe the fast-call type as a new species, Leptolalax sarawakensis sp. nov.

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Publication Details

Journal
Current Herpetology
Published
2025-08-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5358/hsj.44.157
Primary Topic
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Unnoticed for a Century and a Half: Bornean Leaf Litter Frog, Leptobrachella gracilis, is Not a Single Species (Anura, Megophryidae)

Mohamad Yazid Hossman, Kanto Nishikawa, Koshiro Eto, Masafumi Matsui
Current Herpetology
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
article

Unnoticed for a Century and a Half: Bornean Leaf Litter Frog, Leptobrachella gracilis, is Not a Single Species (Anura, Megophryidae)

Mohamad Yazid Hossman, Kanto Nishikawa, Koshiro Eto, Masafumi Matsui
article en

Abstract

A Bornean megophryid, Leptobrachella gracilis (Günther, 1872), the type species of now synonymized genus Leptolalax, proved to contain two different call types that differ in various aspects of advertisement calls including pulse repetition rate and dominant frequency. Genetic analyses of mtDNA and nuDNA of these two types (slow- and fast-call) co-occurring at the type locality, Matang, Sarawak, revealed them to be heterospecific with no evidence of gene exchange. The female holotype of L. gracilis is estimated to belong to the slow-call type based on morphological similarities. We therefore describe the fast-call type as a new species, Leptolalax sarawakensis sp. nov.

Current HerpetologyVol. 44(2)
Kyoto University (JP), NSW Forestry Corporation (AU), Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History (JP)
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
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