New Species of Arthroleptis (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from Ngozi Crater in the Poroto Mountains of Southwestern Tanzania

A new species of squeaker frog (Arthroleptis) is described from Ngozi Crater in the Poroto Mountains of southwestern Tanzania. The holotype, and only specimen, was collected 80 years ago but remained undescribed because of past taxonomic confusion relating to large-bodied species of Arthroleptis fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of herpetology Vol. 46; no. 1; pp. 129 - 135
Main Author Blackburn, David C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published P.O. Box 58517, Salt Lake City, Utah 84158, USA Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 01.03.2012
Subjects
Anura
Biological diversity
Biological taxonomies
Body size
Frogs
Herpetology
Holotypes
Impact craters
New species
Paratypes
Statistical variance
Syntypes
SYSTEMATICS
Tanzania
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Summary:A new species of squeaker frog (Arthroleptis) is described from Ngozi Crater in the Poroto Mountains of southwestern Tanzania. The holotype, and only specimen, was collected 80 years ago but remained undescribed because of past taxonomic confusion relating to large-bodied species of Arthroleptis from eastern Africa. Morphological study, including multivariate analysis of measurement data, indicates that this new species is distinguishable from other species of Arthroleptis, including large-bodied species such as Arthroleptis adolfifriederici, Arthroleptis affinis, Arthroleptis nikeae, Arthroleptis nguruensis, and Arthroleptis tanneri. The new species differs from other described species of Arthroleptis by the combination of its large body size, relatively long toes, and relatively small tympanum. The description of this new species further highlights the biological diversity of the Southern Rift Mountains.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ISSN:0022-1511
1937-2418
DOI:10.1670/10-322