Rhombophryne Explained

Rhombophryne is a genus of microhylid frogs endemic to Madagascar. It is currently estimated to include more than 23 species,[1] [2] but only 20 of these are currently described.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The common name 'diamond frog' has been proposed[10] and used for members of this genus.

Taxonomy

The genus Rhombophryne was monotypic until 2005, containing just R. testudo Boettger, 1880. However, in 2005 Andreone et al.[11] showed that the genus Plethodontohyla was paraphyletic with respect to this genus. Several species were therefore transferred to this genus by Frost et al. in 2006,[12] Glaw and Vences in 2007, and Wollenberg et al. in 2008.[13] In 2015/2016, Peloso et al.[14] re-analysed the genetic relationships of the Microhylidae using partial genomic data. They proposed the synonymy of Stumpffia with Rhombophryne because these genera were found to be paraphyletic. However, in 2016 Scherz et al.[15] re-analysed their data with new data—including osteology and external morphology. They found strong support for these groups being ecologically distinct, non-synonymous sister taxa. To accommodate this, however, they established a new genus, Anilany for a species that would otherwise have rendered Stumpffia paraphyletic. These findings were supported by a subsequent study on the phylogeny of the family Microhylidae.[16]

At present at least one species group is recognised: the Rhombophryne serratopalpebrosa species group, containing R. serratopalpebrosa, R. guentherpetersi, R. coronata, R. vaventy, R. tany, R. ornata, R. regalis, and R. diadema.[17] This group is recognised due to the clearly synapomorphic superciliary spines (spines above the eyes) shared by all of its members, in addition to its consistent monophyly in various phylogenetic reconstructions. Other species groups have yet to be established.

In early 2018, Bellati et al. moved the species Rhombophryne alluaudi to Plethodontohyla based on examination of the type material;[18] specimens in phylogenetic analyses that had been referred to as R. alluaudi in fact belong to an undescribed species of Rhombophryne.

Ecomorphology

Members of the genus Rhombophryne are ecologically and morphologically diverse. The type species, R. testudo shows many specialisations to burrowing, such as a short head,[19] short limbs, and large metatarsal tubercles,[20] as do its two closest relatives, R. matavy and R. coudreaui. Most other species have a stout body shape which may suggest partially burrowing habits as well. Rhombophryne minuta and R. longicrus by contrast have unusually long limbs, and it has been argued that they probably are more terrestrial and saltatorial than the other members of the genus.[21] Rhombophryne proportinalis is a miniaturised species, attaining an adult body size of 11–12 mm. It was argued to be a proportional dwarf in its original description, based on its non-paedomorphic proportions compared to similarly sized Cophylinae frogs.

Reproductive Ecology

The mating habits of most species of Rhombophryne are not known. It is likely that all members of this genus engage in parental care, which is common to most members of the Cophylinae.[22] Two adult R. testudo individuals were found together with 18 putative offspring in a burrow by a stream at the edge of Lokobe Reserve on Nosy Be, at the end of the dry season.[23] This is the only direct evidence of reproductive behaviour in this genus. So far, the advertisement calls of eight species have been published: R. botabota, R. minuta,[24] R. mangabensis,[25] R. matavy,[4] R. testudo,[24] R. nilevina,[7] R. coronata,[26] and R. proportionalis. Most of their calls are honking sounds emitted after quite long intervals, but R. minuta emits paired notes, and R. proportionalis emits series of 9–17 notes.

Species

Notes and References

  1. Vieites. D. R.. K. C. Wollenberg . F. Andreone . J. Köhler . F. Glaw . M. Vences . 2009. Vast underestimation of Madagascar's biodiversity evidenced by an integrative amphibian inventory. PNAS. 106. 20. 8267–8272 . 10.1073/pnas.0810821106 . 19416818 . 2688882. free.
  2. Scherz. Mark D.. Glaw. Frank. Vences. Miguel. Andreone. Franco. Crottini. Angelica. Two new species of terrestrial microhylid frogs (Microhylidae: Cophylinae: Rhombophryne) from northeastern Madagascar. Salamandra. 2016. 52. 2. 91–106.
  3. Book: Glaw, Frank . Vences, Miguel . A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar 3rd edition . M. Vences & F. Glaw Verlags GbR . 2007 . Köln . 978-3-929449-03-7 .
  4. D'Cruze. N.. J. Köhler . M. Vences . F. Glaw . 2010. A New Fat Fossorial Frog (Microhylidae: Cophylinae: Rhombophryne) from the Rainforest of the Forêt d'Ambre Special Reserve, Northern Madagascar. Herpetologica. 66. 2. 182–191 . 10.1655/09-008r1.1. 85378751.
  5. Scherz. Mark D.. Ruthensteiner. Bernhard. Vences. Miguel. Glaw. Frank. A new microhylid frog, genus Rhombophryne, from northeastern Madagascar, and a re-description of R. serratopalpebrosa using micro-computed tomography. Zootaxa. 2014. 3860. 6. 547–560. 10.11646/zootaxa.3860.6.3. 25283290.
  6. Scherz. Mark D.. Ruthensteiner. Bernhard. Vieites. David R.. Vences. Miguel. Glaw. Frank. Two new microhylid frogs of the genus Rhombophryne with superciliary spines from the Tsaratanana Massif in northern Madagascar. Herpetologica. 2015. 71. 4. 310–321. 10.1655/HERPETOLOGICA-D-14-00048. 4288333.
  7. Lambert. Shea M.. Hutter. Carl R.. Scherz. Mark D.. 2017-02-24. Diamond in the rough: a new species of fossorial diamond frog (Rhombophryne) from Ranomafana National Park, southeastern Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 93. 1. 143–155. 10.3897/zse.93.10188. 1860-0743. free.
  8. Scherz. Mark D.. Hutter. Carl R.. Rakotoarison. Andolalao. Riemann. Jana C.. Rödel. Mark-Oliver. Ndriantsoa. Serge H.. Glos. Julian. Hyde Roberts. Sam. Crottini. Angelica. 2019-03-27. Crowther. Mathew S.. Morphological and ecological convergence at the lower size limit for vertebrates highlighted by five new miniaturised microhylid frog species from three different Madagascan genera. PLOS ONE. 14. 3. e0213314. 10.1371/journal.pone.0213314. 30917162. 1932-6203. 6436692. 2019PLoSO..1413314S. free.
  9. Scherz. Mark D.. 2020-06-15. Diamond frogs forever: a new species of Rhombophryne Boettger, 1880 (Microhylidae, Cophylinae) from Montagne d'Ambre National Park, northern Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 96. 2. 313–323. 10.3897/zse.96.51372. 1860-0743. free.
  10. News: Digging to Diamonds: common names in taxonomy and outreach. 2015-05-13. Mark D. Scherz, MSc. 2017-06-07.
  11. Andreone. Franco. Vences. Miguel. Vieites. David R.. Glaw. Frank. Meyer. Axel. Recurrent ecological adaptations revelaed through a molecular analysis of the secretive cophyline frogs of Madagascar. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2005. 34. 2. 315–322. 10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.013. 15619444.
  12. Frost. D .R.. Grant. T.. Faivovich. J.. Bain. R. H.. Haas. A.. Haddad. C. F. B.. de Sá. R. O.. Channing. A.. Wilkinson. M.. Donnellan. S.C.. Raxworthy. C. J.. Campbell. J. A.. Blotto. B. L.. Moler. P.. Drewes. R. C.. Nussbaum. R. A.. Lynch. J. D.. Green. D. M.. Wheeler. W. C.. The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2006. 297. 1–370. 10.1206/0003-0090(2006)297[0001:TATOL]2.0.CO;2. 86140137 . free.
  13. Wollenberg. K. C.. Vieites. D. R.. van der Meijden. A.. Glaw. F.. Cannatella. D. C.. Vences. M.. Patterns of endemism and species richness in Malagasy cophyline frogs support a key role of mountainous areas for speciation. Evolution. 2008. 62. 8. 1890–1907. 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00420.x. 18485110. 205781693.
  14. Peloso. P. L. V.. Frost. D. R.. Richards. S. J.. Rodrigues. M. T.. Donnellan. S.. Matsui. M.. Raxworhty. C. J.. Biju. S. D.. Lemmon. E. M.. Lemmon. A. R.. Wheeler. W. C.. The impact of anchored phylogenomics and taxon sampling on phylogenetic inference in narrow-mouthed frogs (Anura, Microhylidae). Cladistics. 2016. 32. 2. 113–140. 10.1111/cla.12118. 34732021. 84925667. free.
  15. Scherz. Mark D.. Vences. Miguel. Rakotoarison. Andolalao. Andreone. Franco. Köhler. Jörn. Glaw. Frank. Crottini. Angelica. Reconciling molecular phylogeny, morphological divergence and classification of Madagascan narrow-mouthed frogs (Amphibia: Microhylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2016. 100. 372–381. 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.019. 27085671.
  16. Tu. Na. Yang. MengHua. Liang. Dan. Zhang. Peng. September 2018. A large-scale phylogeny of Microhylidae inferred from a combined dataset of 121 genes and 427 taxa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 126. 85–91. 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.036. 29649581. 5023319.
  17. Hawlitschek. Oliver. Andreone. Franco. Rakotoarison. Andolalao. Vences. Miguel. Glaw. Frank. 2017. A review of the taxonomy and osteology of the Rhombophryne serratopalpebrosa species group (Anura: Microhylidae) from Madagascar, with comments on the value of volume rendering of micro-CT data to taxonomists. Zootaxa. 4273. 3. 301–340. 10.11646/zootaxa.4273.3.1. 28610237. Scherz. Mark D..
  18. Bellati. Adriana. Scherz. Mark D.. Megson. Steven. Roberts. Sam Hyde. Andreone. Franco. Rosa. Gonçalo M.. Noël. Jean. Randrianirina. Jasmin E.. Fasola. Mauro. 2018-02-02. Resurrection and re-description of Plethodontohyla laevis (Boettger, 1913) and transfer of Rhombophryne alluaudi (Mocquard, 1901) to the genus Plethodontohyla (Amphibia, Microhylidae, Cophylinae). Zoosystematics and Evolution. 94. 1. 109–135. 10.3897/zse.94.14698. 1860-0743. free.
  19. Moen. Daniel S.. Morlon. Hélène. Wiens. John J.. 2016-01-01. Testing Convergence Versus History: Convergence Dominates Phenotypic Evolution for over 150 Million Years in Frogs. Systematic Biology. 65. 1. 146–160. 10.1093/sysbio/syv073. 26454873. 1063-5157. free.
  20. Emerson. Sharon B.. 1976-08-01. Burrowing in frogs. Journal of Morphology. 149. 4. 437–458. 10.1002/jmor.1051490402. 30257534. 52845429. 1097-4687.
  21. Scherz. Mark D.. Rakotoarison. Andolalao. Hawlitschek. Oliver. Vences. Miguel. Glaw. Frank. Leaping towards a saltatorial lifestyle? An unusually long-legged new species of Rhombophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from the Sorata massif in northern Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 91. 2. 105–114. 10.3897/zse.91.4979. 2015. free.
  22. Blommers-Schlösser. Rose M. A.. 1975. Observations on the larval development of some Malagasy frogs, with notes on their ecology and biology (Anura: Dyscophinae, Scaphiophryninae, and Cophylinae). Beaufortia. 24. 7–26.
  23. Köhler. Jörn. Glaw. Frank. Vences. Miguel. Notes on the reproduction of Rhombophryne testudo (Anura: Microhylidae) at Nosy Be, northern Madagascar. Revue Français d'Aquariologie. 24. 1–2. 53–54.
  24. Book: The Calls of the Frogs of Madagascar. 3 Audio CD's and booklet.. Vences. M.. Glaw. F.. Marquez. R.. 2006. Foneteca Zoológica. Madrid, Spain. 44.
  25. Glaw. Frank. Köhler. Jörn. Vences. Miguel. A new fossorial frog, genus Rhombophryne, from Nosy Mangabe Special Reserve, Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 2010. 86. 2. 235–243. 10.1002/zoos.201000006.
  26. Vences. Miguel. Glaw. Frank. Douglas. M. E.. New Microhylid Frog (Plethodontohyla) with a Supraocular Crest from Madagascar. Copeia. 2003. 2003. 4. 789–793. 10.1643/ha02-285.1. 44182428.

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