A new caruncle-bearing fanged frog (Limnonectes, Dicroglossidae) from Laos and Thailand

Zookeys. 2019 May 16:846:133-156. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.846.33200. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

A new species of the dicroglossid frog genus Limnonectes is described from recent and historical museum specimens collected in central and southern Laos and northeastern Thailand. Limnonectessavan sp. nov. has males that bear a caruncle on top of the head, and most closely resembles L.dabanus from adjacent southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. However, the new species is readily distinguished from L.dabanus, and all other caruncle-bearing species of Limnonectes in mainland Southeast Asia, by its adult and larval morphology, mitochondrial DNA, and advertisement call. Its description brings the total number of caruncle-bearing species of Limnonectes to six.

Keywords: Amphibia; Limnonectes dabanus; Southeast Asia; bioacoustics; larval morphology; mitochondrial DNA.