Possible origins, mountainous microendemism and elevational range distribution in Stumpffia frogs (Microhylidae: Cophylinae) on Montagne d’Ambre in North Madagascar

The role of regional diversification versus the effect of migration in generating local species assemblages remains poorly known. Here, we contribute to the understanding of the role of colonisation and in situ diversification by studying an assemblage of miniaturised microhylid frogs of the genus Stumpffia Boettger, 1881, of which six species have been known to occur on Montagne d’Ambre, a volcanic mountain in the north of Madagascar. These six species are distributed over different, partly overlapping elevational levels. We examined this assemblage based on molecular data (16S mtDNA and Rag1 nDNA), new data on the elevational distribution among local Stumpffia species, and differences in advertisement calls. Our results revealed several genetic lineages constituting distinct species, including another species record for the mountain, S. mamitika Rakotoarison et al., 2017, as well as the new candidate species Stumpffia sp. aff. angeluci . This brings the total number of described species known to occur on the mountain to seven, four of which are micro-endemic. Our data indicate that one clade, consisting of four species, has arisen in situ as a microendemic radiation. We discuss alternative evolutionary scenarios for the biogeographic origin of the observed Stumpffia species.