Leptobrachella

Leptobrachella
Leptobrachella fuliginosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Megophryidae
Genus: Leptobrachella
Smith, 1925
Type species
Leptobrachella mjöbergi
Smith, 1925
Synonyms
  • Nesobia Kampen, 1923
  • Paramegophrys Liu, 1964
  • Carpophrys Sichuan Biological Research Institute, 1977
  • Leptolalax Dubois, 1983
  • Lalax Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean, & Ohler, 2006
  • Lalos Dubois, Grosjean, Ohler, Adler, & Zhao, 2010

Leptobrachella is a genus of frogs in the family Megophryidae. Members of Leptobrachella are found throughout Asia including on Borneo and the Natuna Islands. They are sometimes referred to as Borneo frogs, slender-armed frogs, or dwarf litter frogs. The genus contains over 120 currently described species.

Description

Leptobrachella are small frogs that are not easily seen as they are well camouflaged on the ground. However, their advertisement call is loud, and they can be abundant along streams.

The tadpoles of Leptobrachella are unusual in their vermiform or eel-like appearance. The transition from the narrow, cylindrical trunk into the strong tail is nearly seamless, and the tail fin is very low. This body shape is interpreted as an adaptation to a fossorial life style: Leptobrachella tadpoles live in the gravel beds of small streams. In Leptobrachella mjobergi where more detailed observations have been made, tadpoles have unusually mobile head and trunk, partly because the notochord is not connected to the skull. While smaller tadpoles seem to use existing interstitial spaces, larger ones can actively push their way through gravel. The hyobranchial apparatus, a skeletal complex in the throat which supports the mouth, gills, and feeding muscles, is highly reduced.

Taxonomy

Following phylogenetic analysis of Leptobrachella and its (at the time) sister taxon Leptolalax, the latter was determined to be paraphyletic. Following these findings, all Leptolalax species were subsumed into Leptobrachella.

Diet and reproduction

Leptobrachella are carnivorous amphibians, consuming about any insect, such as mosquitoes, spiders, grasshoppers, and butterflies. They lay their eggs in the water, such as ponds. Their tadpoles have tails and internal gills

Distribution

Leptobrachella are usually found in the forests of Southeast Asia; however they can be found in southwestern Cambodia and adjacent to Thailand.

Species

The following 121 species are recognised in the genus Leptobrachella:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Frost, Darrel R. (2024). "Leptobrachella Smith, 1925". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. New Holland Publishers. 2006. p. 69. ISBN 978-1845373788.
  3. 1 2 Haas, A.; Hertwig, S.T.; Das, I. (2015). "Leptobrachella Dwarf Litter Frogs". Frogs of Borneo. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Haas, A.; Hertwig, S.; Das, I. (2006). "Extreme tadpoles: The morphology of the fossorial megophryid larva, Leptobrachella mjobergi" (PDF). Zoology. 109 (1): 26–42. Bibcode:2006Zool..109...26H. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2005.09.008. PMID 16376062.
  5. ↑ Chen, J.; Poyarkov, Jr., N.A.; Suwannapoom, C.; Lathrop, A.; Wu, Y.-H.; Zhou, W.-W.; Yuan, Z.-Y.; Jin, J.-Q.; Chen, H.-M.; Liu, H.-Q.; Nguyen, T.Q.; Nguyen, S.N.; Duong, T.V.; Eto, K.; Nishikawa, K.; Matsui, M.; Orlov, N.L.; Stuart, B.L.; Brown, R.M.; Rowley, J.J.L.; Murphy, R.W.; Wang, Y.-Y.; Che, J. (2018). "Large-scale phylogenetic analyses provide insights into unrecognized diversity and historical biogeography of Asian leaf-litter frogs, genus Leptolalax (Anura: Megophryidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 124: 162–171. Bibcode:2018MolPE.124..162C. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.020. PMID 29530499.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 Cheng, S.-L.; Shi, S.-C.; Li, J.; Liu, J.; Li, S.-Z.; Wang, B. (2021). "A new species of the Asian leaf litter toad genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (Anura, Megophryidae) from northwest Guizhou Province, China". ZooKeys (1021): 81–107. Bibcode:2021ZooK.1021...81C. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1021.60729. PMC 7943530. PMID 33727884.
  7. ↑ Lyu, Jing-Cai; Dai, Liang-Liang; Wei, Ping-Fan; He, Yan-Hong; Yuan, Zhi-Yong; Shi, Wen-Li; Zhou, Sheng-lun; Ran, Si-yu; Kuang, Zhong-Fan; Guo, Xuan; Wei, Gang (2020-12-31). "A new species of the genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou, China". ZooKeys (1008): 139–157. Bibcode:2020ZooK.1008..139L. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1008.56412. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7790805. PMID 33505191.
  8. ↑ Jiang, Liming; Liu, Jie; Huang, Yong; Zhang, Huichao; Wang, Bin (2026). "Morphological and molecular evidence support a new species of the genus Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from central China". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 102 (1): 253–269. doi:10.3897/zse.102.175462.