Abstract
BackgroundThailand is considered a global biodiversity hotspot that is known to harbour a striking diversity of endemic species. However, several research studies have determined that the level of amphibian diversity in the country has been significantly underestimated. The megophryid genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 is currently known to include 89 species that are primarily distributed throughout southern China and Southeast Asia; however, only seven species have been found in Thailand.New informationBased on an integrative approach encompassing genetic and morphological analyses, we have concluded that the population identified from Chiang Rai Province of Thailand is conspecific with Leptobrachellaventripunctata (Fei, Ye, and Li, 1990). Importantly, this is the first confirmation record of this species, based on molecular and morphological evidence in Thailand. The discovery of this species reaffirms that the diversity within the genus has been underestimated with many species yet to be discovered. In addition, the findings of our study further highlight the lack of existing knowledge on amphibian taxonomy and an underestimation of the biodiversity that exists along these national border areas.
Highlights
As a result of the increasing amounts of attention and effort devoted to herpetological research studies in Thailand over the past decade, the present knowledge of Thailand’s amphibian fauna has grown rapidly with newly-described taxa and the addition of new records from the country (e.g. Poyarkov et al 2018, Suwannapoom et al 2017, Suwannapoom et al 2016, Wu et al 2019, Yan et al 2016)
Thailand represents an important component of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hot-spot
Its northern region lies at a biogeographic crossroads where the fauna of China, Indochina, India and Himalaya converge (Myers et al 2000)
Summary
Thailand is considered a global biodiversity hotspot that is known to harbour a striking diversity of endemic species. Based on an integrative approach encompassing genetic and morphological analyses, we have concluded that the population identified from Chiang Rai Province of Thailand is conspecific with Leptobrachella ventripunctata (Fei, Ye, and Li, 1990). This is the first confirmation record of this species, based on molecular and morphological evidence in Thailand. The discovery of this species reaffirms that the diversity within the genus has been underestimated with many species yet to be discovered. The findings of our study further highlight the lack of existing knowledge on amphibian taxonomy and an underestimation of the biodiversity that exists along these national border areas
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