EDGE of Existence Programme, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK. Asian Turtle Program of Indo-Myanmar Conservation 1806, CT1C14 Bac Ha Building, To Huu Street, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, Vietnam. .
Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, UK..
Zootaxa. 2021 Aug 6;5016(3):301-332. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5016.3.1.
The Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam is known to harbour five species of Leptobrachella, a specious genus of terrestrial frogs. We collected specimens of Leptobrachella from Mount Pu Ta Leng on the second highest peak in the Hoang Lien Range and use morphological and molecular data to show that this population represents a previously undescribed species which we name Leptobrachella graminicola sp. nov. after the abundance of calling males on sedge-like plants. This new species is closely related to L. bourreti but the new species is distinguished from L. bourreti and other congeneric species by a combination of the following characters: (1) a body size range of 23.124.6 mm in six adult males and 28.632.9 mm in five adult females; (2) skin on dorsum smooth, with many tubercles and lacking dermal ridges; (3) toes with rudimentary webbing and broad lateral fringes; (4) belly white with brown spots; (5) throat dark brown with light grey-brown flecks and spots; (6) a row of large white spots on the outer edge of the tarsus extending from the heel to the inner metatarsal tubercle, sometimes forming a long white stripe; and (7) a bicoloured iris. The new, high-elevation species is likely to be range-restricted and threatened by habitat loss and the activities of tourists.
越南北部的黄连山脉以拥有五种竹叶青（Leptobrachella）而闻名，竹叶青是一种具有广泛分布的陆生蛙类。我们从黄连山脉第二高峰的 Pu Ta Leng 山采集了竹叶青标本，并运用形态学和分子数据表明，该种群代表了一个以前未被描述的物种，我们将其命名为 Leptobrachella graminicola sp. nov.，以大量雄性在类似莎草的植物上鸣叫而得名。这个新物种与 L. bourreti 密切相关，但与 L. bourreti 和其他同属物种不同的是，该新种具有以下特征的组合：（1）6 只成年雄性个体的体长范围为 23.1-24.6 毫米，5 只成年雌性个体的体长范围为 28.6-32.9 毫米；（2）背部皮肤光滑，有许多结节，没有真皮脊；（3）脚趾有微弱的蹼和宽阔的侧缘；（4）腹部白色，有棕色斑点；（5）喉咙深棕色，有浅灰棕色的斑点和条纹；（6）跗跖外侧边缘有一排大的白色斑点，从脚跟延伸到内跖骨结节，有时形成一条长的白色条纹；（7）虹膜双色。这种新的高海拔物种可能分布范围有限，受到栖息地丧失和游客活动的威胁。
