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Type: Article
Published: 2008-07-04
Page range: 43–50
Abstract views: 67
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of Phrynobatrachus (Amphibia: Anura: Phrynobatrachidae) from north-western Guinea, West Africa

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Herpetology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Museum of Natural History, Herpetology, Humboldt University Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Amphibia Phrynobatrachus pintoi sp. nov. conservation gallery forest Upper Guinea Forest zone

Abstract

A new small Phrynobatrachus species from a gallery forest in north-western Guinea is described. Phrynobatrachus pintoi sp. nov. exhibits a combination of unique morphological characters and a distinctive color pattern, including: compact, oval body, short snout, warty dorsum and eyelid (although no eyelid cornicle is present), three pairs of large symmetric black spots on throat and breast, black spots on belly, more than one black bar on thighs and lower leg, finger and toe tips not expanded, and rudimentary web on foot. Furthermore, analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 16S rRNA reveals that this new species differs from other West African species of the genus by a minimum distance of 7%. Genetically the new species is closest to Phrynobatrachus fraterculus, P. cornutus, and P. gutturosus.

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