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Issue: Vol. 5501 No. 1: 29 Aug. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-08-29
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5501.1.8
Page range: 171-180
Abstract views: 505
PDF downloaded: 27

A new species of colorful Platypelis (Amphibia: Microhylidae) from the Tsaratanàna and Bemanevika massifs in northern Madagascar

Mention Environnement; Université de l’Itasy; Faliarivo Ambohidanerana; 118 Soavinandriana Itasy; Madagascar; School for International Training; VN 41A Bis Ambohitsoa; 101 Antananarivo; Madagascar
Zoological Institute; Technische Universität Braunschweig; Mendelssohnstr. 4; 38106; Braunschweig; Germany
Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali; Via G. Giolitti; 36; I-10123 Torino; Italy
CIBIO; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos; InBIO Laboratório Associado; Campus de Vairão; Universidade do Porto; 4485-661 Vairão; Portugal; Departamento de Biologia; Faculdade de Ciências; Universidade do Porto; rua do Campo Alegre s/n; 4169– 007 Porto; Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics; Biodiversity and Land Planning; CIBIO; Campus de Vairão; 4485-661 Vairão; Portugal
Zoologische Staatssammlung München (ZSM-SNSB); Münchhausenstr; 21; 81247 München; Germany
Natural History Museum of Denmark; University of Copenhagen; Universitetsparken 15; 2100; Copenhagen Ø; Denmark
Mention Zoologie et Biodiversité Animale; Faculté des Sciences; Université d’Antananarivo; BP 906; Madagascar
Amphibia Anura Cophylinae yellow flashmarks narrow-mouthed frog

Abstract

Frogs of the genus Platypelis are known to have their center of species richness in the mountain massifs of northern Madagascar. We here formally describe a new species of Platypelis from this region. Platypelis saikamavo sp. nov. has been known for over 20 years but its taxonomic identity has only recently been robustly clarified as a result of ongoing taxonomic revisions of other Platypelis species. The new species is known from rainforest on the Tsaratanàna Massif and Bemanevika, at elevations of 1000–1530 m above sea level. It is characterized by an isolated phylogenetic position and is genetically highly divergent, with an uncorrected pairwise distance ≥4.5% in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene to all other nominal species of Platypelis. It has a unique combination of morphological and chromatic character states such as a relatively large body size of 28–31 mm in snout–vent length, distinct superciliary tubercles, and bright yellow color around the forelimb insertion and on the posterior abdomen where this color extends in the form of flash marks onto the inguinal region.

 

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