Leptobrachella albomarginata Wu, Yu, Kilunda, Murphy & Che 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wu, Yun-He
name: Yu, Zhong-Bin
name: Yang, Shen-Pin
name: Duan, Zheng-Pan
name: Zuo, An-Ru
name: Zhang, Ding-Can
name: Kasyoka Kilunda, Felista
name: Murphy, Robert W.
name: Che, Jing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Megophryidae
Leptobrachella
Leptobrachella albomarginata

description: Leptobrachella albomarginata Wu, Yu, Kilunda, Murphy & Che sp. nov.
Figs 3, 4, 5, Table 1
Type material.
Holotype: • KIZ 050905, an adult female from Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve, Yingjiang County, Yunnan, China (24.56355 ° N, 97.58719 ° E, 1,634 m a. s. l.), collected on 20 April 2023 by Zhong-Bin Yu, Dong An, Yu-Xuan Wu, and Xian-Kun Huang.
Paratype: • KIZ 056551, an adult male from Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve, Yingjiang County, Yunnan, China (24.63669 ° N, 97.59515 ° E, 1,318 m a. s. l.), collected on 30 April 2024 by Zhong-Bin Yu, Peng Yang, Dong An, and Xian-Rong Wu.
Etymology.
The name refers to reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with a white lining on dorsum of the new species: the specific epithet “ albus ” is a Latin adjective which means “ white ”, and “ marginis ” is Latin adjective for “ border, lining ”. We propose the English common name “ White-lined Leaf Litter Toad ” and the Chinese common name “ Bái Yuán Zhǎng Tū Chán (白缘掌突蟾) ”.
Diagnosis.
Leptobrachella albomarginata sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of morphological characters: (1) body size small (SVL 26.5 mm in one adult male, 32.5 mm in one female); (2) tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye; (3) tongue with a shallow notch at the posterior tip; (4) heels meeting; (5) toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes; (6) relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III; (7) reverse-triangle markings and a ˄ - shaped marking with a white lining in dorsal view; (8) black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly; (9) flanks with distinct irregular black spots; (10) iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray.
Description of the holotype
(measurements in Table 1). KIZ 050905, adult female, body size small (SVL 32.5 mm), head longer (HDL 12.7 mm) than wide (HDW 11.8 mm); head triangular in dorsal view; snout short (SNT / HDL 37.0 %), snout bluntly rounded in profile and obtusely pointed in dorsal view, projecting slightly beyond margin of the lower jaw; oval-shaped nostril dorsolaterally positioned, situated slightly below canthus, closer to tip of snout (SN 1.8 mm) than to anterior margin of eye (DNE 2.8 mm); loreal region oblique and slightly concave; canthus rostralis distinct; eyes large (ED / HDL 18.9 %), eye diameter smaller than snout length (ED / SNT 51.1 %); pupil vertical; eye diameter (ED 2.4 mm) less than snout length (SNT 4.7 mm); tympanum distinct, round; tympanic rim distinctly elevated relative to skin of temporal region; upper margin of tympanum in contact with supratympanic ridge; interorbital space (IOD 2.8 mm) flat, less than internarial distance (IND 3.5 mm) and width of upper eyelid (UEW 3.6 mm); vomerine teeth absent; tongue with shallow notch at posterior tip; supratympanic ridge distinct, extending from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary gland (Fig. 3).
Forelimbs thin, slender; forearm shorter than hand, not enlarged (FAL 6.5 mm, HL 7.9 mm); fingertips round, slightly swollen, almost equal to phalange width; relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III; subarticular tubercles absent on fingers; supernumerary tubercles absent; finger webbing absent; lateral fringes absent; a large, round inner metacarpal tubercle, distinctly separated from small, laterally compressed outer metacarpal tubercle (Figs 3, 4).
Hindlimbs long, tibia slightly shorter than half of the snout-vent length (TAL / SVL ratio 44.9 %); tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye when hindlimb is stretched along the side of the body; heels meeting when hind limbs are flexed and held perpendicular to body; tips of toes rounded, slightly swollen; relative length of toes: IV> III> V> II> I; subarticular tubercles indistinct under the base of II and III toe; narrow lateral fringes present on all toes; rudimentary webbing between toes; inner metatarsal tubercle distinct and prolonged (IMTL 0.9 mm, 2.8 % SVL), outer metatarsal tubercle absent (Figs 3, 4).
Skin on dorsum shagreened, lacking enlarged tubercles or warts; the back and surfaces of limbs scattered with fine tubercles and short longitudinal folds; upper arms and upper eyelid covered by small tubercles; tiny reddish warts on flanks; ventral skin smooth; pectoral gland laterally compressed, indistinct, not easy to find, about 0.8 mm in diameter; femoral glands small, oval, about 0.8 mm in diameter, located on posteroventral surfaces of thighs, closer to knee than to vent; supra-axillary gland raised, about 0.6 mm in diameter; ventrolateral glands present, dorsolaterally compressed forming an incomplete line (Fig. 3).
Color of the holotype in life. Dorsum brown backgrounding, with small, distinct darker brown markings and spots; large reverse-triangle dark brown markings with white lining between anterior corner of eyes, connected to the ˄ - shaped marking with white lining between axillae; a dark ˄ - shaped stripe with white lining on rear part of dorsal surface; upper lip with dark brown vertical bars; supratympanic ridge reddish and large black marking under supratympanic ridge from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary glands; most of tympanum black; transverse dark brown bars on dorsal surface of fingers and toes, lower arms, tarsus, thighs and tibia; supra-axillary gland coppery orange; three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks from groin to axilla; ventral surface of throat, chest, and belly creamy white; black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly; ventral surfaces of limbs black, covered with bluish-white marbling; ventrolateral glands, pectoral glands and femoral glands white; iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray, with black reticulations throughout (Fig. 3).
Color of holotype in preservative. After one year of storage in 75 % alcohol, dorsum of the body and limbs fade to dark brown; transverse bars on limbs still distinct; three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks still clear; dark-brown, inverse reverse-triangle marking, connected to the ˄ - shaped marking and a dark ˄ - shaped stripe with a white lining on the rear part of the dorsal surface distinctly visible; elbow to upper arm distinctly creamy white in color on the dorsum; ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly dull white with well-discernable marbling; inner metatarsal tubercle, inner metatarsal tubercle, supra-axillary, femoral and pectoral glands fading to gray (Fig. 4).
Description of the paratype
(measurements in Table 1). KIZ 056551, adult male, body size small (SVL 26.5 mm), head longer (HDL 10.1 mm) than wide (HDW 9.1 mm); head triangular in dorsal view; snout short (SNT / HDL 40.6 %), snout bluntly rounded in profile and obtusely pointed in dorsal view, projecting slightly beyond margin of the lower jaw; oval-shaped nostril dorsolaterally positioned, situated slightly below canthus, closer to tip of snout (SN 1.5 mm) than to anterior margin of eye (DNE 2.2 mm); loreal region oblique and slightly concave; canthus rostralis indistinct; eyes large (ED / HDL 15.8 %), eye diameter slightly smaller than snout length (ED / SNT 39.0 %); pupil vertical; eye diameter (ED 1.6 mm) less than snout length (SNT 4.1 mm); tympanum distinct, round; tympanic rim distinctly elevated relative to skin of temporal region; upper margin of tympanum in contact with supratympanic ridge; interorbital space (IOD 3.2 mm) flat, slightly larger than internarial distance (IND 3.0 mm) and width of upper eyelid (UEW 2.6 mm); vomerine teeth absent; tongue with shallow notch at posterior tip; supratympanic ridge distinct, extending from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary gland; male with internal subgular vocal sacs, vocal sac openings slit-like, small, paired, located posteriolaterally on mouth floor (Fig. 5).
Forelimbs thin, slender; forearm shorter than hand, not enlarged (FAL 6.8 mm, HL 7.1 mm); fingertips round, slightly swollen, almost equal to phalange width; nuptial pad absent; relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III; subarticular tubercles absent on fingers; supernumerary tubercles absent; finger webbing absent; lateral fringes absent; a large, round inner metacarpal tubercle, distinctly separated from small, laterally compressed outer metacarpal tubercle (Fig. 5).
Hindlimbs long, tibia slightly shorter than half of the snout-vent length (TAL / SVL ratio 45.7 %); tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye when hindlimb is stretched along the side of the body; heels meeting when hind limbs are flexed and held perpendicular to body; tips of toes rounded, slightly swollen; relative length of toes: IV> III> V> II> I; subarticular tubercles absent; narrow lateral fringes present on all toes; rudimentary webbing between toes; inner metatarsal tubercle distinct and prolonged (IMTL 1.2 mm, 4.5 % SVL), outer metatarsal tubercle absent (Fig. 5).
Skin on dorsum shagreened; the back and surfaces of limbs scattered with fine tubercles and short longitudinal folds; upper arms and upper eyelid covered by small tubercles; tiny reddish warts on flanks; ventral skin smooth; pectoral gland laterally compressed, indistinct, not easy to find, about 0.9 mm in diameter; femoral glands small, oval, about 1.0 mm in diameter, located on posteroventral surfaces of thighs, closer to knee than to vent; supra-axillary gland raised, about 1.3 mm in diameter; ventrolateral glands present, dorsolaterally compressed forming an incomplete line (Fig. 5).
Color of the paratype in life. Dorsum brown backgrounding; large reverse-triangle dark brown markings with a white lining between anterior corner of eyes, connected to the ˄ - shaped marking with a white lining between axillae; a dark 人-shaped stripe with a white lining on the rear part of dorsal surface; upper lip with dark brown vertical bars; supratympanic ridge reddish and large black marking under supratympanic ridge from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary glands; most of tympanum black; transverse dark brown bars on dorsal surface of fingers and toes, lower arms, tarsus, thighs and tibia; supra-axillary gland coppery orange; one distinct dark blotch and several small black spots on flanks from groin to axilla (Fig. 5 A).
Color of paratype in preservative. After six months of storage in 75 % alcohol, dorsum of the body and limbs fade to dark brown; transverse bars on limbs still distinct; one distinct dark blotch and several small black spots on flanks still clear; dark-brown, inverse reverse-triangle marking, connected to the ˄ - shaped marking and a dark 人-shaped stripe with white lining on the rear part of dorsal surface distinctly visible; elbow to upper arm distinctly creamy white on the dorsum; ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly dull white with well-discernable marbling; inner metatarsal tubercle, supra-axillary, femoral and pectoral glands fading to gray (Fig. 5 B – F).
Morphological variation.
The paratype matches the overall characters of the holotype (see Table 1). The female specimen is relatively larger than the male (SVL 32.5 mm in a single adult female and 26.5 mm in a single adult male). Male with internal subgular vocal sacs, vocal sac openings slit-like, small, paired, located posteriolaterally on mouth floor. The size of the dark blotches on flanks is variable: KIZ 050905 has three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks; KIZ 056551 has a relatively small blotch and several small black spots on flanks.
Description of the larvae.
KIZ 051631, an early metamorph at stages 44–46 was collected on 28 April 2023 (Gosner 1960). A young froglet with a relatively elongate body, bluntly rounded snout, and slender limbs with thin, delicate digits. After one year of storage in 75 % alcohol, the ground dorsal coloration of the body and limbs now dark brown; dorsal parts of limbs with transverse dark brown bars; ventral surfaces of throat, chest and limbs creamy white (Suppl. material 3).
Distribution and ecology.
Leptobrachella albomarginata sp. nov. is only known from Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve, Tongbiguan Town, Yingjiang County, Yunnan, China. The new species inhabits montane streams surrounded by shrubland at elevations of approximately 1300–1600 m (Fig. 6). The breeding season of this species is likely in April as the female collected during this month was gravid. This species occurs sympatrically, if not syntopically with congeners L. purpurus, L. yingjiangensis, and L. ventripunctata. In addition, other frog species also found at the site include Nanorana aenea, Limnonectes longchuanensis, and Jingophrys feii.
Comparisons.
Phylogenetically, the matrilineal genealogy assigns Leptobrachella albomarginata sp. nov. to clade A. Thus, we compared Leptobrachella albomarginata sp. nov. to all other recognized species of clade A (Fei et al. 1990; Lathrop et al. 1998; Ohler et al. 2000, 2011; Das et al. 2010; Sengupta et al. 2010; Rowley et al. 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017; Jiang et al. 2013; Sung et al. 2014; Yang et al. 2016, 2018; Yuan et al. 2017; Hou et al. 2018; Wang et al. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022; Chung et al. 2019; Chen et al. 2019, 2020, 2021 a, b, c, 2023, 2024; Luo et al. 2020; Lyu et al. 2020; Qian et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020, 2024; Cheng et al. 2021; Nguyen et al. 2021; Wu et al. 2021; Shi et al. 2021, 2023; Lin et al. 2022; Luo et al. 2022; Luong et al. 2023; Liu et al. 2023; Matsui et al. 2023; Suppl. material 2).
Leptobrachella albomarginata sp. nov. differs from L. bijie by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I = II = IV <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. jinyunensis by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris gold above, gradually silver bellow), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. chishuiensis by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: II <IV <I <III), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches the tympanum), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. jinshaensis by reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. absent); from L. suiyangensis by reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral part with distinct or indistinct light brown speckling); from L. purpuraventra by ventral surface of throat, chest, and belly creamy white (vs. ventral surface gray purple), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I = II = IV <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. bourreti by a smaller body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 42.0–45.0 mm in adult females), nostrils closer to tip of snout than to anterior margin of eye (vs. nostrils closer to eye than to tip of snout); from L. dong by reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), eye diameter smaller than snout length (vs. eye diameter longer than snout length); from L. dushanensis by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches the interior corner of the eye), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. graminicola by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches the anterior edge of eye), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. wulingensis by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris bicolored with bright orange or golden upper half, fades to silver in lower half), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. dorsospina by a larger body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 25.0– 26.4 mm in three adult females), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <IV <II <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. niveimontis by a larger body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 28.5–28.7 mm in three adult females), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond eye); from L. yeae by reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), heels just meeting (vs. heels partially overlapped); from L. yunyangensis by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <II = IV <III), heels just meeting (vs. heels overlapped), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond the anterior corner of the eye); from L. alpina by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior corner of the eye), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), ventrolateral glands forming a discontinuous line (vs. continuous); from L. purpurus by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. upper half orange yellow, lower half sliver white), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I = II = IV <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. eos by a smaller body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 40.7 mm in one adult female), nostril closer to tip of snout than to anterior margin of eye (vs. nostril closer to eye than to tip of snout), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. oshanensis by toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes (vs. absent), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <II = IV <III); from L. korifi by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond the anterior corner of the eye), heels just meeting (vs. heels overlapped), subarticular tubercles indistinct under the base of II and III toe (vs. subarticular tubercles at base of each toe); from L. sinorensis by heels just meeting (vs. heels overlapped), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond the anterior corner of the eye); from L. murphyi by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. upper half orange, lower half sliver white), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond eye), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surface of belly creamy white with small spots on the margin); from L. tengchongensis by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris not bicolored, uniformly dark brown and scattered with minute, coppery reticulations throughout), a larger body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 28.8–28.9 mm in two adult females), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. tamdil by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: IV <I <II <III), head longer than wide (vs. head wider than long), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. top third of iris bright orange, rest of iris grayish-cream), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. khasiorum by head longer than wide (vs. head wider than long), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: IV <I <II <III), heels just meeting (vs. heels widely separated), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. top third of iris bright orange, rest of iris yellowish-cream), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. yingjiangensis by dermal fringes in fingers absent (vs. narrow to moderate dermal fringes present on 2 nd to 4 th fingers), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris bicolored, upper half orange yellow, lower half sliver white), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior corner of the eye); from L. namdongensis by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <II = IV <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. petrops by toes with rudimentary webbing (vs. toes lacking webbing), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior edge of eye), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris gold in lower half and copper in upper half); from L. puhoatensis by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior edge of eye), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surfaces deep reddish brown, faint white speckling on chest and belly); from L. liui by black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. absent), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. mangshanensis by iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris bicolored, bright orange upper, grayish cream below), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior margin of snout); from L. verrucosa by heels just meeting (vs. heels not meeting), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior corner of eye); from L. yunkaiensis by black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. surface of throat creamy white and scattered with small whitish dots, belly pinkish and scattered with small brown speckling), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. shimentaina by black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surface grayish pink, with distinct hazy brown speckling on chest and ventrolateral flanks), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. maoershanensis by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches snout), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: II <I <IV <III), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. bashaensis by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches snout), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. laui by relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <IV <II <III), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches anterior margin of eye), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris uniformly coppery orange), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surface of chest and belly opaque cream white with little brown dusting along the margins of ventrolateral glands); from L. phiaoacensis by black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. throat, chest and belly pinkish white with dark brown specking), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. flaviglandulosa by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond eye), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris distinctly bicolored, typically golden-orange in upper half, fading to whitish gray in lower half); from L. aerea by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. very weak lateral fringes), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches to tip of snout), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris bronze), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. pelodytoides by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. very weak lateral fringes), rudimentary webbing between toes (vs. 1 / 3 toe webbing); from L. minima by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. absent), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris dark golden in upper part, gray in lower part); from L. feii by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches beyond eye), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. throat, chest and belly pinkish white with dark brown specking on belly periphery), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. aspera by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. very weak lateral fringes), reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining); from L. ventripunctata by reverse-triangle markings and ˄ - shaped marking with white lining (vs. lack of white lining), ventrolateral glands forming a discontinuous line (vs. continuous); from L. guinanensis by a smaller body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 38.7–41.8 mm in adult females), rudimentary webbing between toes (vs. 1 / 3 toe webbing), heels just meeting (vs. heels not meeting), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surface creamy white without dark brown spots); from L. shiwandashanensis by heels just meeting (vs. heels not meeting), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye in female (vs. reaches the shoulder in females), toes with narrow lateral fringes and rudimentary webbing (vs. without webbing and lateral fringes on toes); from L. wuhuangmontis by tongue with shallow notch at posterior tip (vs. tongue deeply notched behind), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. ventral surface grayish-white mixed with tiny white and black dots); from L. wumingensis by toes with narrow lateral fringes and rudimentary webbing (vs. absence of toe webbing and lateral fringes), tongue with shallow notch at posterior tip (vs. tongue with a deep notch at posterior tip), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. belly with tiny creamy white spots, throat creamy white with tiny light brown spots); from L. phiadenensis by head longer than wide (vs. head wider than long), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. throat, chest and belly white with dark specking on outer margins); from L. shangsiensis by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. very weak lateral fringes), head longer than wide (vs. head wider than long); from L. nyx by a smaller body size, SVL 32.5 mm in one female (vs. 37.0–41.0 mm in adult females), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. absent), flanks with distinct irregular black spots (vs. poorly distinct spots on flanks); from L. damingshanensis by narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. very weak lateral fringes), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <II <IV <III), black and bluish-white marbling all over ventral surfaces of throat, chest and belly (vs. absent); from L. nahangensis by a smaller body size, SVL 26.5 mm in one adult male (vs. 40.8 mm in one adult male), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. absent), tongue with shallow notch at posterior tip (vs. tongue deeply notched), iris bicolored, upper 1 / 3 of the iris being coppery, lower 2 / 3 silvery gray (vs. iris gold uniformly distributed with minute black, reticulations); from L. pluvialis by tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches nostril), relative finger lengths: I ≈ II <IV <III (vs. relative finger lengths: I <II = IV <III), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. absent); from L. zhangyapingi by a smaller body size, SVL 26.5 mm in one male (vs. 45.8–52.5 mm in seven adult males), heels just meeting (vs. heels widely separated), flanks with distinct irregular black spots (vs. absent), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes (vs. wide lateral fringes); from L. sungi by a smaller body size, SVL 26.5 mm in one male (vs. 48.3–52.7 mm in adult males), three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks (vs. absent or small); from L. firthi by three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks (vs. absent), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes in female (vs. absent in females); and from L. isos by three distinct dark blotches and several small black spots on flanks (vs. absent), tibiotarsal articulation reaches the middle eye (vs. reaches to nostril), narrow lateral fringes present on all toes in male (vs. wide in males).
description: Published as part of Wu, Yun-He, Yu, Zhong-Bin, Yang, Shen-Pin, Duan, Zheng-Pan, Zuo, An-Ru, Zhang, Ding-Can, Kasyoka Kilunda, Felista, Murphy, Robert W. & Che, Jing, 2025, Morphological and molecular evidence for a new species of the genus Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from Gaoligong Mountain Range, Yunnan, China, pp. 449-463 in Zoosystematics and Evolution 101 (2) on pages 449-463, DOI: 10.3897/zse.101.135560