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Issue: Vol. 5779 No. 1: 20 Mar. 2026
Type: Monograph
Published: 2026-03-20
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5779.1.1
Page range: 1-66
Abstract views: 45
PDF downloaded: 4

Four new cryptic Ptychadena species from the Upper Guinean rainforests of West Africa (Amphibia, Anura, Ptychadenidae)

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin–Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Invalidenstraße 43; 10115 Berlin; Germany
Natural History Museum of Geneva; Route de Malagnou 1; 1208 Genève; Switzerland
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin–Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Invalidenstraße 43; 10115 Berlin; Germany; Frogs & Friends; Reichenberger Str. 88; 10999 Berlin; Germany
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin–Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Invalidenstraße 43; 10115 Berlin; Germany
Department of Biology & Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture; University of Washington; Seattle; WA; USA
CSIR–Forestry Research Institute of Ghana; P. O. Box 63; Fumesua; Kumasi; Ghana
California Academy of Sciences; San Francisco; California; USA
Security Africa Mining and Environmental Consulting (SAMEC); Kipé T2; Commune de Ratoma; Conakry; Republic of Guinea
Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé; UFR Environnement; Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Ecologie Tropicale; Daloa; BP 150; Côte d´Ivoire
Université Nangui Abrogoua; UFR Sciences de la Nature; Laboratoire d’Ecologie et de Développement Durable; 01 BP V34; Abidjan 01; Côte d’Ivoire
Laboratory of Zoology; Faculty of Science; University of Yaoundé I; P.O. Box 812; Yaoundé; Cameroon
Katzenberg 103; 55126 Mainz; Germany
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF); Liberia Office; Congo Town; Monrovia; Montserrado County; Liberia
Laboratoire d’Ecologie; de Botanique et de Biologie végétale; Faculty of Agronomy; University of Parakou; Republic of Benin
Museum of Zoology; Senckenberg–Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research Dresden; Königsbrücker Landstrasse 159; 01109 Dresden; Germany
Institute for Cell and Systems Biology; Universität Hamburg; Martin–Luther–King Platz 3; 20146 Hamburg; Germany
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin–Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Invalidenstraße 43; 10115 Berlin; Germany; Institute of Biochemistry and Biology; University of Potsdam; Karl–Liebknecht–Str. 24–25; 14476 Potsdam; Germany
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin–Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; Invalidenstraße 43; 10115 Berlin; Germany
Amphibia biodiversity hotspot biogeography conservation forest fluctuations Grass Frogs integrative taxonomy museomics

Abstract

We describe four new cryptic Ptychadena species from rainforest habitats in the Guinean Forests of West Africa, a renowned biodiversity hotspot. The new taxa are diagnosed based on morphological and molecular data (the mitochondrial markers 12S and 16S, and the nuclear gene RAG1), including museomic data from the types of the morphologically most similar taxon, P. aequiplicata, which was believed to range from West Africa into western Central Africa. The four new species form a clade that is sister to a clade of Ptychadena species from East, West and Central Africa that contains the type specimens of P. aequiplicata. We consequently restrict the distribution of P. aequiplicata to records from western Central Africa. The similar morphology and colour pattern of P. aequiplicata and the four new species are most likely a convergent adaptation to their habitat, leaf litter of rainforests. All four new species depend on primary forests and seem to tolerate little to no forest alteration. This habitat preference and very small ‘Areas of Occupancy’ qualify all four new species as Endangered, according to IUCN Red List criteria. The new West African Ptychadena species comprise two clades with two species each, both including an eastern and a western species that may differ in their preference of different forest environments. The four new species thus seem to be a very promising model system to investigate the forest history of West Africa. At least in parts, they have a reproductive strategy adapted to unpredictable rainfall and high air humidity, which is distinctly different from the rest of the genus. The new species confirm the assumption that West Africa is home to a unique amphibian fauna that is markedly distinct from the rest of the continent.

 

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How to Cite

Rödel, M.-O., Schmitz, A., Penner, J., Griesbaum, F., Leaché, A.D., Ofori-Boateng, C., Portik, D., Doumbia, J., Kouamé, N.G., Kpan, T.F., Gonwouo, N.L., Nopper, J., Hillers, A., Nago, S.G.A., Ernst, R., Glos, J., Petzold, A. & Barej, M.F. (2026) Four new cryptic Ptychadena species from the Upper Guinean rainforests of West Africa (Amphibia, Anura, Ptychadenidae). Zootaxa, 5779 (1), 1–66. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5779.1.1