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,[1] or dwarf litter frogs.[2][3] The genus contains over 82 species with 25 found in China alone.
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.[3]
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. While smaller tadpoles seem to use existing interstitial spaces, larger ones can actively push their way through gravel.[4]
Diet & reproduction
Leptobrachella are carnivorous amphibians, consuming about any insect, such as mosquitoes, spiders, grasshoppers, & butterflies (Cheng, 2021). In terms of reproduction, they lay their eggs in the water, such as ponds. Eventually those eggs hatch into larvae called - tadpoles. These tadpoles have tails & internal gills (Cheng, 2021).
Distribution
Leptobrachella are usually found in the forests of Southeast Asia; however they can be found in southwestern Cambodia and adjacent to Thailand (Cheng, 2021).
Species
There are 45 species recognised in the genus Leptobrachella:[1]
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Leptobrachella aerea (Rowley, Stuart, Richards, Phimmachak, and Sivongxay, 2010)
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Leptobrachella alpina (Fei, Ye, and Li, 1990)
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Leptobrachella arayai (Matsui, 1997)
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Leptobrachella baluensis Smith, 1931
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Leptobrachella bashaensis Lyu, Dai, Wei, He, Yuan, Shi, Zhou, Ran, Kuang, Guo, Wei & Yuan, 2020[5]
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Leptobrachella bijie Wang, Li, Li, Chen, and Wang, 2019
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Leptobrachella bondangensis Eto, Matsui, Hamidy, Munir, and Iskandar, 2018
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Leptobrachella brevicrus Dring, 1984
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Leptobrachella chishuiensis Li, Liu, Wei, and Wang, 2020
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Leptobrachella feii Chen, Yuan, and Che, 2020
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Leptobrachella flaviglandulosa Chen, Wang, and Che, 2020
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Leptobrachella fusca Eto, Matsui, Hamidy, Munir, and Iskandar, 2018
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Leptobrachella itiokai Eto, Matsui, and Nishikawa, 2016
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Leptobrachella jinshaensis Cheng et al., 2021
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Leptobrachella juliandringi Eto, Matsui, and Nishikawa, 2015
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Leptobrachella kajangensis Grismer, Grismer, and Youmans, 2004
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Leptobrachella kalonensis Rowley et al., 2016
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Leptobrachella liui Fei and Ye, 1990
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Leptobrachella macrops (Duong, Do, Ngo, Nguyen, and Poyarkov, 2018)
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Leptobrachella mangshanensis (Hou, Zhang, Hu, Li, Shi, Chen, Mo, and Wang, 2018)
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Leptobrachella minima Taylor, 1962
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Leptobrachella mjobergi Smith, 1925
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Leptobrachella namdongensis Hoang, Nguyen, Luu, Nguyen, and Jiang, 2019
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Leptobrachella natunae (Günther, 1895)
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Leptobrachella neangi Stuart and Rowley, 2020
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Leptobrachella niveimontis Chen, Poyarkov, Yuan, and Che, 2020
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Leptobrachella nokrekensis Mathew and Sen, 2010
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Leptobrachella oshanensis Liu, 1950
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Leptobrachella palmata Inger and Stuebing, 1992
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Leptobrachella parva Dring, 1984
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Leptobrachella petrops (Rowley, Dau, Hoang, Le, Cutajar, and Nguyen, 2017)
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Leptobrachella picta Malkmus, 1992
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Leptobrachella puhoatensis (Rowley, Dau, and Cao, 2017)
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Leptobrachella purpura (Yang, Zeng, and Wang, 2018)
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Leptobrachella purpuraventra Wang, Li, Li, Chen, and Wang, 2019
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Leptobrachella rowleyae (Nguyen, Poyarkov, Le, Vo, Ninh, Duong, Murphy, and Sang, 2018)
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Leptobrachella serasanae Dring, 1984
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Leptobrachella shangsiensis Chen, Liao, Zhou, and Mo, 2019
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Leptobrachella suiyangensis Luo, Xiao, Gao, and Zhou, 2020
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Leptobrachella tengchongensis (Yang, Wang, Chen, and Rao, 2016)
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Leptobrachella tuberosa (Inger, Orlov, and Darevsky, 1999)
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Leptobrachella wuhuangmontis Wang, Yang, and Wang, 2018
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Leptobrachella wulingensis Qian, Xiao, Cao, Xiao, and Yang, 2020
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Leptobrachella yingjiangensis (Yang, Zeng, and Wang, 2018)
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Leptobrachella yunkaiensis Wang, Li, Lyu, and Wang, 2018
References
Cheng, 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(8), 81–107. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1021.60729
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^ a b Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Leptobrachella Smith, 1925". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
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^ Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. New Holland Publishers. 2006. p. 69. ISBN 978-1845373788.
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^ a b Haas, A.; Hertwig, S.T.; Das, I. (2015). "Leptobrachella Dwarf Litter Frogs". Frogs of Borneo. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
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^ Haas, A.; Hertwig, S.; Das, I. (2006). "Extreme tadpoles: The morphology of the fossorial megophryid larva, Leptobrachella mjobergi" (PDF). Zoology. 109 (1): 26–42. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2005.09.008. PMID 16376062.
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^ 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. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1008.56412. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7790805. PMID 33505191.
