A new species of colorful Platypelis (Amphibia: Microhylidae) from the Tsaratanàna and Bemanevika massifs in northern Madagascar

Abstract

Frogs of the genus Platypelis are known to have their center of species richness in the mountain massifs of northern Madagascar. We here formally describe a new species of Platypelis from this region. Platypelis saikamavo sp. nov. has been known for over 20 years but its taxonomic identity has only recently been robustly clarified as a result of ongoing taxonomic revisions of other Platypelis species. The new species is known from rainforest on the Tsaratanàna Massif and Bemanevika, at elevations of 1000–1530 m above sea level. It is characterized by an isolated phylogenetic position and is genetically highly divergent, with an uncorrected pairwise distance ≥4.5% in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene to all other nominal species of Platypelis. It has a unique combination of morphological and chromatic character states such as a relatively large body size of 28–31 mm in snout–vent length, distinct superciliary tubercles, and bright yellow color around the forelimb insertion and on the posterior abdomen where this color extends in the form of flash marks onto the inguinal region.