Editorial Type:
Article Category: Other
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Online Publication Date: 01 Sept 2014

A New Species of the Leptopelis modestus Complex (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from the Albertine Rift of Central Africa

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Page Range: 394 – 406
DOI: 10.1670/13-043
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Abstract

We describe a new species of Leptopelis from the L. modestus complex. The new species is described from forest and lacustrine habitats of the Albertine Rift of Central Africa, is superficially similar to topotypic L. modestus from Cameroon, but it is distinguished by advertisement call, morphology, and sequences of 16S, cyt b, and RAG1. The new species is yet another amphibian that occurs in the Itombwe Plateau, further solidifying the position of the plateau as an area of conservation concern.

Copyright: 2014
<sc>Fig. 1</sc> . 
Fig. 1 . 

Map of the Itombwe Plateau, showing sampling localities for the new species; major cities and towns are shown with a closed circle.

<sc>Fig. 2</sc> . 
Fig. 2 . 

Bayesian phylogenetic tree of Leptopelis from the Albertine Rift. Numbers listed at nodes are ML bootstrap support values, followed by BI posterior probability values.

<sc>Fig. 3</sc> . 
Fig. 3 . 

Scatter plots of PC1 and PC2 scores for the analysis with log-transformed morphometric data (A) and morphometric data regressed against SVL (B). L, lectotype of Leptopelis modestus.

<sc>Fig. 4</sc> . 
Fig. 4 . 

Leptopelis mtoewaate sp. nov. adult male paratype (UTEP 20583, 37.6 mm SVL) in life (A); adult male paratype (UTEP 20578, 35.4 mm SVL) in life (B); adult male (UTEP 20575, 34.6 mm SVL) in life (C); adult female paratype (UTEP 20586, 45.1 mm SVL) in life (D); adult male holotype (UTEP 20566, 34.3 mm SVL) in life (E); and UTEP 20566 in ventral view (F).

<sc>Fig. 5</sc> . 
Fig. 5 . 

Dorsal (A) ventral (B) and lateral view of the head (C) of the preserved male holotype of Leptopelis mtoewaate (UTEP 20566, 34.3 mm SVL).

<sc>Fig. 6</sc> . 
Fig. 6 . 

Waveform diagram and spectrogram of calls of Leptopelis mtoewaate sp. nov. (UTEP 20578). MU on the y-axis of the audiospectrogram represents Raven Pro 1.4 amplitude units.

<sc>Fig. 7</sc> . 
Fig. 7 . 

Lateral (A), dorsal (B), and ventral (C) views of a Leptopelis mtoewaate sp. nov. tadpole (UTEP 20587, GS 38, 43.08 mm TL).

<sc>Fig. 8</sc> . 
Fig. 8 . 

Larval mouth of Leptopelis mtoewaate sp. nov. (UTEP 20587, GS 38). Scale bar represents 1 mm.

Contributor Notes

1 Corresponding Author. E-mail: egreenbaum2@utep.edu
Accepted: 30 Nov 2013
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