A new toad species of the genus Brachytarsophrys Tian & Hu, 1983 (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

Background The toads of the genus Brachytarsophrys Tian & Hu, 1983 are distributed in southern China, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and northern Thailand. Seven species of the genus have been recognised, of which five of them are known from China so far. New information Brachytarsophrys qiannanensis sp. nov., a new species of the short-legged toad genus is here described from southern Guizhou Province, China. Diagnostic characters of the new species are illustrated and comparisons with its congeners are provided. Its validity is also affirmed by its distinct mitochondrial gene sequence divergence with all congeners and its monophyly recovered in the mitochondrial gene-based phylogenetic analyses.