Description of two new sympatric species of the genusLeptolalax(Anura: Megophryidae) from western Yunnan of China
The Asian leaf litter toads of the genusLeptolalaxrepresent a highly diverse species group and currently contain 53 recognized species. During herpetological surveys in Yingjiang County, western Yunnan of China, we collected series ofLeptolalaxspecimens from an isolated small fragment of montane evergreen forest. Subsequent study based on acoustic, morphological and molecular data reveals that there were three different species among the specimens sampled: while one of them belongs toLeptolalax ventripunctataus, the other two species represent unknown taxa and are described herein:Leptolalax purpurussp. nov.andLeptolalax yingjiangensissp. nov. The two new species can be distinguished from other congeners by the molecular divergences, acoustic data, and by a combination of morphological characters including: body size, dorsal and ventral patterns, dorsal skin texture, sizes of pectoral and femoral glands, degree of webbing and fringing on the toes and fingers, dorsum coloration and iris coloration in life. Our results further reveal that species diversity of the genusLeptolalaxstill remains highly underestimated and warrants further attention.