Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 1577 No. 1: 7 Sept. 2007
Type: Article
Published: 2007-09-07
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1577.1.6
Page range: 61–68
Abstract views: 26
PDF downloaded: 1

Discovery of the genus Plethodontohyla (Anura: Microhylidae) in dry western Madagascar: description of a new species and biogeographic implications

Zoologische Staatssammlung, Münchhausenstr. 21, 81247 München, Germany
Department of Natural History - Zoology, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Friedensplatz 1, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany
Université d’Antananarivo, Département de Biologie Animale, Madagascar
Université d’Antananarivo, Département de Biologie Animale, Madagascar
Université d’Antananarivo, Département de Biologie Animale, Madagascar
Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, Technical University of Braunschweig, Spielmannstr. 8, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Amphibia Anura Microhylidae Plethodontohyla new species Madagascar biogeography

Abstract

The cophyline anuran genus Plethodontohyla is considered to be restricted to humid eastern and central Madagascar. Recent surveys of the herpetofauna in the karstic limestone massif "Tsingy de Bemaraha" revealed a distinctive new species which constitutes the first record of this genus in central-western Madagascar. Plethodontohyla fonetana sp. nov. is characterized by large size (snout-vent length up to 65 mm in females), enlarged fingertips, sinuous dorsal folds, and a reticulated dorsal coloration. It is probably closely related to the other Plethodontohyla species with enlarged fingertips. The discovery of the new species suggests the existence of forest corridor between the eastern rainforest stretch and the relatively dry Tsingy de Bemaraha massif during a period of more humid climate. A continuous strip of gallery forest along a river running from the central high plateau to the west might have been sufficient to allow dispersal to the Bemaraha plateau.

References

  1. Andreone, F., Cadle, J. E., Cox, N., Glaw, F., Nussbaum, R. A., Raxworthy, C. J., Stuart, S., Vallan, D. & Vences, M. (2005a) Species review of amphibian extinction risks in Madagascar: conclusions from the Global Amphibian Assessment. Conservation Biology, 19, 1790–1802.

    Andreone, F., Vences, M., Vieites, D. R., Glaw, F. & Meyer, A. (2005b) Recurrent ecological adaptations revealed through a molecular analysis of the secretive cophyline frogs of Madagascar. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 34, 315–322.

    Blommers-Schlösser, R. M. A. (1975) Observations on the larval development of some Malagasy frogs, with notes on their ecology and biology (Anura: Dyscophinae, Scaphiophryninae and Cophylinae). Beaufortia, 24, 7–26.

    Blommers-Schlösser, R. M. A. & Blanc, C. P. (1991) Amphibiens (première partie). Faune de Madagascar, 75, 1–379.

    Chiari, Y., Orozco-terWengel, P., Vences, M., Vieites, D. R, Sarovy, A., Randrianirina, J. E., Meyer, A. & Louis Jr., E. (2006) Genetic identification of units for conservation in tomato frogs, genus Dyscophus. Conservation Genetics, 7, 473–482.

    Glaw, F., Hoegg, S. & Vences, M. (2006) Discovery of a new basal relict lineage of Madagascan frogs and its implications for mantellid evolution. Zootaxa, 1334, 27–43.

    Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (1994) A fieldguide to the amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar, 2nd ed. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln, 480 pp.

    Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2006) Phylogeny and genus-level classification of mantellid frogs (Amphibia, Anura). Organisms, Diversity and Evolution, 6, 236–253.

    Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2007) Plethodontohyla guentheri, a new montane microhylid frog species from northeastern Madagascar. Mitteilungen des Museums für Naturkunde Berlin, Zoologische Reihe, 83, Supplement, 33–39.

    Glos, J., Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2005) A new species of Scaphiophryne from western Madagascar. Copeia, 2005, 252–261.

    Hawkins, A. F. A. & Goodman, S.M. (2003) Introduction to the birds, pp. 1019–1044. In: Goodman, S. M. & Benstead, J. P., eds. (2003): The Natural History of Madagascar. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1709 pp.

    Köhler, J., Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (in press) A new green treefrog, genus Boophis Tschudi, 1838 (Anura, Mantellidae), from arid western Madagascar: phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic implications. Tropical Zoology.

    Lourenço, W. R., Glaw, F., Cloudsley-Thompson, J. L. & Vences, M. (1997) The Madagascan frog Plethodontohyla inguinalis eats scorpions. British Herpetological Society Bulletin, 60, 26–28.

    Ramanamanjato, J. B. & Rabibisoa, N. (2002) Evaluation rapide de la diversité biologique des reptiles et amphibiens de la Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Ankarafantsika, pp. 98–103 and 135–138. In: Alonso, L. E., Schulenberg, T. S., Radilofe, S. & Missa, O. (eds.) Une evaluation biologique de la Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Ankarafantsika, Madagascar. Bulletin RAP d'evaluation rapide No. 23, Conservational International, Washington, DC.

    Shine, R. (1979) Sexual selection and sexual dimorphism in the Amphibia. Copeia, 1979, 297–306.

    Vences, M., Glaw, F., Jesu, R. & Schimmenti, G. (2000) A new species of Heterixalus (Amphibia: Hyperoliidae) from western Madagascar. African Zoology, 35, 269–276.

    Vences, M., Raxworthy, C. J., Nussbaum, R. A. & Glaw, F. (2003) New microhylid frog (Plethodontohyla) from Madagascar, with semiarboreal habits and possible parental care. Journal of Herpetology, 37, 629–636.