# Leptobrachella

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, or dwarf litter frogs. 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.
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.

## Diet and reproduction

Leptobrachella are carnivorous amphibians, consuming about any insect, such as mosquitoes, spiders, grasshoppers, and butterflies (Cheng, 2021). In terms of reproduction, they lay their eggs in the water, such as in ponds. Eventually those eggs hatch into larvae called tadpoles. These tadpoles have tails andinternal 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

The following 108 species are recognised in the genus Leptobrachella:
* Leptobrachella aerea (Rowley et al., 2010)
* Leptobrachella alpina (Fei, Ye, and Li, 1990)
* Leptobrachella applebyi (Rowley and Cao, 2009)
* Leptobrachella arayai (Matsui, 1997)
* Leptobrachella ardens (Rowley et. al, 2016)
* Leptobrachella aspera Wang, Lyu, Qi, and Wang, 2020
* Leptobrachella aurantirosea Ninh et. al, 2024 )
* Leptobrachella baluensis Smith, 1931
* Leptobrachella bashaensis Lyuet. al, 2020
* Leptobrachella bidoupensis (Rowley, Le, Tran, and Hoang, 2011)
* Leptobrachella bijie Wang, Li, Li, Chen, and Wang, 2019
* Leptobrachella bondangensis Eto et al., 2018
* Leptobrachella botsfordi (Rowley, Dau, and Nguyen, 2013)
* Leptobrachella bourreti (Dubois, 1983)
* Leptobrachella brevicrus Dring, 1984
* Leptobrachella chishuiensis Li, Liu, Wei, and Wang, 2020
* Leptobrachella crocea (Rowley, Hoang, Le, Dau, and Cao, 2010)
* Leptobrachella damingshanensis Chen et al., 2021
* Leptobrachella dayaoshanensis Chen, Yu, Meng, and Qin, 2024
* Leptobrachella dong Liu, Shi, Li, Zhang, Xiang, Wei, and Wang, 2023
* Leptobrachella dorsospina Wang, Lyu, Qi, and Wang, 2020
* Leptobrachella dringi (Dubois, 1987)
* Leptobrachella dushanensis Li, Li, Cheng, Liu, Wei, Wang, 2024
* Leptobrachella eos (Ohler et. al, 2011)
* Leptobrachella feii Chen, Yuan, and Che, 2020
* Leptobrachella firthi (Rowley, Hoang, Dau, Le, and Cao, 2012)
* Leptobrachella flaviglandulosa Chen, Wang, and Che, 2020
* Leptobrachella fritinniens (Dehling and Matsui, 2013)
* Leptobrachella fuliginosa (Matsui, 2006)
* Leptobrachella fusca Eto, Matsui, Hamidy, Munir, and Iskandar, 2018
* Leptobrachella gracilis (Günther, 1872)
* Leptobrachella graminicola Nguyen et al., 2021
* Leptobrachella guinanensis Chen, Li, Peng, and Liu, 2024
* Leptobrachella hamidi (Matsui, 1997)
* Leptobrachella heteropus (Boulenger, 1900)
* Leptobrachella huynhi Hoang et. al, 2024
* Leptobrachella isos (Rowley et. al, 2015)
* Leptobrachella itiokai Eto, Matsui, and Nishikawa, 2016
* Leptobrachella jinshaensis Cheng et al., 2021
* Leptobrachella jinyunensis Shi, Shen, Wang, Jiang, and Wang, 2023
* Leptobrachella juliandringi Eto, Matsui, and Nishikawa, 2015
* Leptobrachella kajangensis Grismer, Grismer, and Youmans, 2004
* Leptobrachella kalonensis Rowley et al., 2016
* Leptobrachella kecil (Matsui, Belabut, Ahmad, and Yong, 2009)
* Leptobrachella khasiorum (Das, Tron, Rangad, and Hooroo, 2010
* Leptobrachella korifi Matsui, Panha, and Eto, 2023
* Leptobrachella lateralis (Anderson, 1871)
* Leptobrachella laui (Sung, Yang, and Wang, 2014)
* Leptobrachella liui Fei and Ye, 1990
* Leptobrachella macrops (Duong, Do, Ngo, Nguyen, and Poyarkov, 2018)
* Leptobrachella maculosa (Rowley et al., 2016)
* Leptobrachella mangshanensis (Hou et al., 2018)
* Leptobrachella maoershanensis (Yuan, Sun, Chen, Rowley, and Che, 2017)
* Leptobrachella marmorata (Matsui, Zainudin, and Nishikawa, 2014)
* Leptobrachella maura (Inger, Lakim, Biun, and Yambun, 1997)
* Leptobrachella melanoleuca (Matsui, 2006)
* Leptobrachella melica (Rowley, Stuart, Neang, and Emmett, 2010)
* Leptobrachella minima Taylor, 1962
* Leptobrachella mjobergi Smith, 1925
* Leptobrachella murphyi Chen et al., 2021
* Leptobrachella nahangensis (Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov, and Ho, 1998)
* Leptobrachella namdongensis Hoang et al., 2019
* Leptobrachella natunae (Günther, 1895)
* Leptobrachella neangi Stuart and Rowley, 2020
* Leptobrachella niveimontis Chen, Poyarkov, Yuan, and Che, 2020
* Leptobrachella nokrekensis Mathew and Sen, 2010
* Leptobrachella nyx Ohler et al., 2011
* Leptobrachella oshanensis Liu, 1950
* Leptobrachella pallida (Rowley et al., 2016)
* Leptobrachella palmata Inger and Stuebing, 1992
* Leptobrachella parva Dring, 1984
* Leptobrachella pelodytoides (Boulenger, 1893)
* Leptobrachella petrops (Rowley et al., 2017)
* Leptobrachella phiadenensis Luong et al., 2023
* Leptobrachella phiaoacensis Luong et al., 2023
* Leptobrachella picta Malkmus, 1992
* Leptobrachella pingbianensis (Rao, Hui, Zhu, and Ma, 2022 "2020")
* Leptobrachella platycephala (Dehling, 2012)
* Leptobrachella pluvialis (Ohler, Marquis, Swan, and Grosjean, 2000)
* Leptobrachella puhoatensis (Rowley, Dau, and Cao, 2017)
* Leptobrachella purpuraventra Wang, Li, Li, Chen, and Wang, 2019
* Leptobrachella purpuris (Yang, Zeng, and Wang, 2018)
* Leptobrachella pyrrhops (Poyarkov et al., 2015)
* Leptobrachella rowleyae (Nguyen et al., 2018)
* Leptobrachella sabahmontana (Matsui, Nishikawa, and Yambun, 2014)
* Leptobrachella serasanae Dring, 1984
* Leptobrachella shangsiensis Chen, Liao, Zhou, and Mo, 2019
* Leptobrachella shimentaina Wang, Lyu, and Wang, 2022
* Leptobrachella shiwandashanensis Chen et al., 2021
* Leptobrachella sinorensis Matsui, Panha, and Eto, 2023
* Leptobrachella sola (Matsui, 2006)
* Leptobrachella suiyangensis Luo, Xiao, Gao, and Zhou, 2020
* Leptobrachella sungi (Lathrop, Murphy, Orlov, and Ho, 1998)
* Leptobrachella tadungensis (Rowley et al., 2016)
* Leptobrachella tamdil (Sengupta, Sailo, Lalremsanga, Das, and Das, 2010
* Leptobrachella tengchongensis (Yang, Wang, Chen, and Rao, 2016)
* Leptobrachella tuberosa (Inger, Orlov, and Darevsky, 1999)
* Leptobrachella ventripunctata (Fei, Ye, and Li, 1990)
* Leptobrachella verrucosa Wang, Zeng, Lin, and Li, 2022
* Leptobrachella wuhuangmontis Wang, Yang, and Wang, 2018
* Leptobrachella wulingensis Qian, Xiao, Cao, Xiao, and Yang, 2020
* Leptobrachella wumingensis Chen, Peng, Li, and Yu, 2023
* Leptobrachella xishuiensis Luo, Zhao, Wang, Lan, Xiao, Deng, Xiao, and Zhou, 2025
* Leptobrachella yeae Shi, Hou, Song, Jiang, and Wang, 2021
* Leptobrachella yingjiangensis (Yang, Zeng, and Wang, 2018)
* Leptobrachella yunkaiensis Wang, Li, Lyu, and Wang, 2018
* Leptobrachella yunyangensis Luo, Deng, and Zhou, 2022
* Leptobrachella zhangyapingi (Jiang et al., 2013)