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Abstract
A new species of Phrynobatrachus is described from the unexplored and isolated Bibita Mountain, southwestern Ethiopia, based on morphological characters and sequences of the mitochondrial rRNA16s. The new species can be distinguished from all its congeners by a small size (SVL = 16.8 ± 0.1 mm for males, 20.3 ± 0.9 mm for females), a slender body with long legs and elongated fingers and toes, a golden coloration, a completely hidden tympanum, and a marked canthus rostralis. The phylogenetic hypothesis based on 16s sequences places the new species as sister to the species group that includes P.natalensis, although it is morphologically more similar to other dwarf Phrynobatrachus species, such as the Ethiopian P.minutus.
Highlights
The highlands of Ethiopia are known for their high degree of diversity and endemism (Williams et al 2004)
We did not include samples of three junior synonyms of P. natalensis from Ethiopia, samples referable to these junior synonyms have previously been included on a phylogeny of members of the P. natalensis group (Lara 2016), and they are well nested within P. natalensis, we can conclude that they do not represent P. bibita
Most of the natural vegetation of the Ethiopian highlands has been transformed for agriculture or into grazing fields for cattle (Williams et al 2004)
Summary
The highlands of Ethiopia are known for their high degree of diversity and endemism (Williams et al 2004). Despite a recent increase in studies on the diversity of the Ethiopian fauna, the southwestern part of the country remains poorly studied, in part due to the difficulty in accessing the region. While conducting fieldwork in the southwestern part of the country, we came across an undescribed species member of the genus Phrynobatrachus. This genus is one of the most species rich genera of African anurans, with 91 described and multiple undescribed taxa (Zimkus and Schick 2010, Frost 2018). This genus is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa.
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