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A new frog species with distinct morphological and genetic characteristics is found on a remote mountain in Ethiopia.
Researchers from New York University in Abu Dhabi have discovered a new species of puddle frog on a mountain in southwestern Ethiopia.
With the permission of NYU Abu Dhabi researchers, S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco
During her fieldwork on Mount Bibita in southwestern Ethiopia, Sandra Goutte and her colleagues at New York University in Abu Dhabi discovered a frog species that has not yet been described.
The forests of southwestern Ethiopia are known for their unique geographical animal diversity. The region has attracted the attention of many taxonomists and conservationists, but due to difficult access to the region, it remains largely unexplored.
In the newspaper zookeysGoutte and his collaborators describe a new member of one of the species richest species of African frogs: Phrynobatrachus, commonly called puddle frogs. This genus is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and at least five species of Phrynobatrachus have been found in Ethiopia.
The morphological characteristics of this new species, which the authors propose to call P. bibita, are clearly distinct from other Ethiopians Phrynobatrachus. They characterized ten specimens and, as explained by the main author of the study, Drop:P. bibita has a slimmer body shape, with longer limbs, fingers and toes.
The specimens are mainly golden in color and rather small for the genus. The ends of the fingers and toes are particularly enlarged, especially in women and unlike other East African countries. Phrynobatrachustheir hearing organs were completely hidden.
The fact that many females were found perching on vegetation close to the brood eggs on leaves indicates that they may have a more arboreal lifestyle than most of their parents. "The discovery of a climbing puddle frog is very interesting because spawning on vegetation is unusual in this group of frogs," says Alan Channing, expert on African amphibians at Western Cape University, South Africa. 39; study.
It is possible that woman P. bibita keep their eggs, which could be a demonstration of parental care. "This needs to be deepened, but if it is verified, this will only be the second example of parental protection in the genre," said Goutte.
Analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA genes from frogs, which can be used to infer evolutionary relationships between species, suggested that P. bibita is not related to any of the other species of Ethiopia. "To our surprise, the new species morphologically more like a group of frogs with which it is less related (genetically) and geographically distant from its closest relatives. This raises questions about the evolution of the body's general shape in the group and its phylogeographic history, "Goutte said.
"The authors have convincingly demonstrated the unique nature of this frog and this study will certainly encourage new work in the region," says Channing.
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