Stumpffia
Unidentified Stumpffia in Marojejy
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Subfamily: Cophylinae
Genus: Stumpffia
Boettger, 1881
Type species
Stumpffia psologlossa
Boettger, 1881
Diversity
41 species

Stumpffia is a genus of microhylid frogs that are endemic to Madagascar.[1] They are mostly brown frogs that typically live among leaf litter. S. contumelia has a snout–vent length of about 8–9 mm (0.31–0.35 in), making it one of the world's smallest frogs, and several others in the genus are only slightly larger.[2][3] The largest species is no more than 28 mm (1.1 in).[2]

The majority of the species have only been described since 2010. Each species has a small range and many are seriously threatened.[2][4]

Taxonomy

Stumpffia was first described from the single species Stumpffia psologlossa Boettger, 1881, based on a single specimen collected on Nosy Be, a large island off the northwest coast of Madagascar, by Antonio Stumpff.[5] By 2017, 15 species were recognised. In late 2017, a major revision of the genus was published.[2] This study used integrative taxonomy, i.e. the combination of multiple different datasets, to delimit and describe new species: it combined morphological, morphometric, chromatic (color), bioacoustic (voice), and genetic data to provide new data on the 15 described species of Stumpffia, and describe a further 26 new species.[2]

Debate on synonymy with Rhombophryne

The genus Stumpffia was proposed to be a junior synonym of Rhombophryne in 2016,[6] but this proposal was disputed and reversed by authors of a subsequent study, on the basis of their reciprocal monophyly and consistent morphological differences between the two genera that allow them to be distinguished.[7] The latter study established a new genus, Anilany for "Stumpffia" helenae, a species that would otherwise have rendered Stumpffia paraphyletic, and which is morphologically and genetically highly distinct from any species of Rhombophryne or Stumpffia.[7]

This debate was continued in 2017, with one group of authors continuing to advocate for synonymy of these two genera plus Anilany,[8] while the other group of authors continued to advocate for separate treatment of these genera based on their monophyly and morphological distinction allowing them to be distinguished with comparative ease.[9] There was a temporary impasse, wherein the Amphibian Species of the World database continued to adopt the single-genus taxonomy, and as a result, so too did the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species and other online databases (e.g. iNaturalist) that draw from that resource. Meanwhile, AmphibiaWeb continued to use the three-genus taxonomy, as did the taxonomists working on cophyline systematics,[2][10][11] and other groups working more broadly on frog evolution and taxonomy.[12][13]

In March 2019, a new genus, Mini, was described for the miniaturised frogs previously confused with Stumpffia that are more closely related to Plethodontohyla.[14] Evidence in this study, as well as that presented in a paper by Na Tu et al. in 2018,[13] helped to clarify the taxonomic situation, and the Amphibian Species of the World database reverted to treating Rhombophryne, Anilany, and Stumpffia as valid genera.[15]

Species

There are over 40 currently recognised species:[1][2][16][17]

The taxon Stumpffia helenae'' Vallan, 2000 was transferred to Anilany[7] and therefore does not appear on this list.

References

  1. ^ a b Frost, Darrel R. (2022). "Stumpffia Boettger, 1881". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rakotoarison, A.; Scherz, M.D.; Glaw, F.; Köhler, J; Andreone, F.; Franzen, M.; Glos, J.; Hawlitschek, O.; Jono, T.; Mori, A.; Ndriantsoa, S.H.; Raminosoa Rasoamampionona, N.; Riemann, J.C.; Rödel, M.-O.; Rosa, G.M.; Vieites, D.R.; Crottini, A.; Vences, M. (2017). "Describing the smaller majority: Integrative fast-track taxonomy reveals twenty-six new species of tiny microhylid frogs (genus Stumpffia) from Madagascar". Vertebrate Zoology. 67 (3): 271–398.
  3. ^ "10 Smallest Frogs and Toads in the World". gonefroggin.com. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Stumpffia". IUCN Redlist. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  5. ^ Boettger, Oskar (1881). "Diagnoses Reptilium et Batrachiorum novorum ab ill. Antonio Stumpff in insula Nossi Bé Madagascariensi lectorum". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 4: 358–362.
  6. ^ 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. (2016). "The impact of anchored phylogenomics and taxon sampling on phylogenetic inference in narrow-mouthed frogs (Anura, Microhylidae)". Cladistics. 32 (2): 113–140. doi:10.1111/cla.12118. PMID 34732021. S2CID 84925667.
  7. ^ a b c Scherz, Mark D.; Vences, Miguel; Rakotoarison, Andolalao; Andreone, Franco; Köhler, Jörn; Glaw, Frank; Crottini, Angelica (2016). "Reconciling molecular phylogeny, morphological divergence and classification of Madagascan narrow-mouthed frogs (Amphibia: Microhylidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 100: 372–381. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.019. PMID 27085671.
  8. ^ Peloso, Pedro L.V.; Raxworthy, Christopher J.; Wheeler, Ward C.; Frost, Darrel R. (2017). "Nomenclatural stability does not justify recognition of paraphyletic taxa: A response to Scherz et al. (2016)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 111: 56–64. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.016. PMID 28336422.
  9. ^ Scherz, Mark D.; Vences, Miguel; Rakotoarison, Andolalao; Andreone, Franco; Köhler, Jörn; Glaw, Frank; Crottini, Angelica (2017). "Lumping or splitting in the Cophylinae (Anura: Microhylidae) and the need for a parsimony of taxonomic changes: a response to Peloso et al. (2017)". Salamandra. 53 (3): 479–483.
  10. ^ 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. doi:10.3897/zse.93.10188. ISSN 1860-0743.
  11. ^ Scherz, Mark D.; Hawlitschek, Oliver; Andreone, Franco; Rakotoarison, Andolalao; Vences, Miguel; Glaw, Frank (2017-06-06). "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. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4273.3.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 28610237.
  12. ^ Feng, Yan-Jie; Blackburn, David C.; Liang, Dan; Hillis, David M.; Wake, David B.; Cannatella, David C.; Zhang, Peng (2017-07-18). "Phylogenomics reveals rapid, simultaneous diversification of three major clades of Gondwanan frogs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (29): E5864–E5870. doi:10.1073/pnas.1704632114. PMC 5530686. PMID 28673970.
  13. ^ a b 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. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.036. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29649581. S2CID 5023319.
  14. ^ 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. (ed.). "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. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1413314S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213314. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6436692. PMID 30917162.
  15. ^ American Museum of Natural History. "Rhombophryne Botteger, 1880". Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an online reference. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  16. ^ a b Glaw, F.; D. Vallan; F. Andreone; D. Edmonds; R. Dolch; M. Vences (2015). "Beautiful bright belly: A distinctive new microhylid frog (Amphibia: Stumpffia) from eastern Madagascar". Zootaxa. 3925 (1): 120–128. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3925.1.8. PMID 25781734.
  17. ^ Crottini, Angelica; Rosa, Gonçalo M.; Penny, Samuel G.; Cocca, Walter; Holderied, Marc W.; Rakotozafy, Lovasoa M. S.; Andreone, Franco (2020-05-18). "A new stump-toed frog from the transitional forests of NW Madagascar (Anura, Microhylidae, Cophylinae, Stumpffia)". ZooKeys (933): 139–164. doi:10.3897/zookeys.933.47619. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7285848. PMID 32547290.
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