Mini Scherz &amp; Hutter &amp; Rakotoarison &amp; Riemann &amp; Rödel &amp; Ndriantsoa &amp; Glos &amp; Roberts &amp; Crottini &amp; Vences &amp; Glaw 2019, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Scherz, Mark D.
name: Hutter, Carl R.
name: Rakotoarison, Andolalao
name: Riemann, Jana C.
name: Rödel, Mark-Oliver
name: Ndriantsoa, Serge H.
name: Glos, Julian
name: Roberts, Sam Hyde
name: Crottini, Angelica
name: Vences, Miguel
name: Glaw, Frank
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Microhylidae
Mini
Mini mum

description: <i>Mini</i> gen. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 67171236-00A2-428B-8194-584BF52E84E6 (Figs 2–9, Table 1) <b>Type species.</b> <i>Mini mum</i> sp. nov. <b>Contents.</b> <i>Mini mum</i> sp. nov., <i>M</i>. <i>scule</i> sp. nov., and <i>M</i>. <i>ature</i> sp. nov. <b>Etymology.</b> The genus name is derived from English prefix ‘mini-’, denoting a small version of an object. We treat this name as an arbitrary combination of letters in the sense of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Articles 30.1.4.1 and 30.2.2, and we assign it the feminine gender. We have searched all available taxonomic databases and could not find any evidence that this name has ever been used to refer to a genus of animals, and we therefore conclude that it is available. <b>Diagnosis.</b> Diminutive terrestrial frogs (adult SVL 8.2–14.9 mm), assigned to the Madagascar-endemic subfamily Cophylinae on the basis of divided vomers, procoelous vertebral column, divided sphenethmoids, and genetic affinities. Skin smooth to slightly granular, occasionally iridescent. A lateral colour border is present but varies in intensity among species. Highly reduced fingers and toes, fusion or loss of carpal 2, and paedomorphic skull morphology: laterally displaced narrow nasals, teeth absent from vomer, in some species present on the maxilla and premaxilla, otic capsule sometimes dorsally ossified, brain case comprising most of the skull’s length and width. All members of the genus <i>Mini</i> gen. nov. resemble miniaturised to extremely miniaturised members of the genus <i>Stumpffia</i>. However, all species can be distinguished from <i>Stumpffia</i> on the basis of their curving clavicles and a fused or lost carpal 2. In the species accounts below, we provide detailed distinctions from <i>Stumpffia</i> relevant to each species. <b>Justification.</b> The erection of the genus <i>Mini</i> is justified by significant genetic differentiation from all other major cophyline lineages (see Fig 1), by the fact that it does not form a monophyletic group with the genus <i>Stumpffia</i>, and furthermore by the strong morphological differences (including but not restricted to the much smaller size) to all species of its sister clade, <i>Plethodontohyla</i>. The following characters distinguish the genus from all <i>Plethodontohyla</i> species, including juveniles: digital reduction of the fingers and toes (vs no reduction), laterally displaced and reduced nasals (vs large nasals situated anterior to frontal), parasphenoid cultriform process shorter than frontoparietals (vs roughly equal in length to the frontoparietals) and considerably narrower than alary processes (vs as wide or wider), vomerine teeth absent (vs present), carpal 2 absent (vs present). Uncorrected p-distances between <i>Mini</i> and <i>Plethodontohyla</i> range from 8.3–13.3% in the 3’ fragment of <i>16S rRNA</i> analysed here, and they have been found to be sister to <i>Plethodontohyla</i> in all phylogenetic analysis since their first inclusion in genetic datasets [15, 17, 20, 22] (except the DNA barcoding study of Vieites et al. [40], where they were placed at the base of <i>Rhombophryne + Stumpffia + Anilany</i>, but that study lacks any resolution at deep nodes, and was not intended to provide phylogenetic hypotheses at deep levels). <b>Distribution.</b> The genus <i>Mini</i> is apparently endemic to low-elevation habitats (0–350 m a. s. l.) of southeastern Madagascar (Fig 3).
description: Published as part of <i>Scherz, Mark D., Hutter, Carl R., Rakotoarison, Andolalao, Riemann, Jana C., Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Ndriantsoa, Serge H., Glos, Julian, Roberts, Sam Hyde, Crottini, Angelica, Vences, Miguel &amp; Glaw, Frank, 2019, Morphological and ecological convergence at the lower size limit for vertebrates highlighted by five new miniaturised microhylid frog species from three different Madagascan genera, pp. 1-45 in PLoS ONE 213314</i> on pages 8-12, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213314, http://zenodo.org/record/2614083
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