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Abstract
A comprehensive survey of the Cape Fold Mountains, South Africa, was undertaken for moss frogs of the genus Arthroleptella. Advertisement calls were recorded and voucher specimens collected for all populations encountered. A molecular phylogeny was constructed for the entire genus using two mitochondrial and one nuclear marker. Standard morphological measurements were made and salient morphological characters described. Analysis of these data revealed the presence of three undescribed species: two that were previously obscured under Arthroleptella bicolor and one obscured under A. landdrosia are described herein. The advertisement calls of the three new species are described and contrasted with the calls of other Arthroleptella species. Their distribution is described and spatial extent of occurrence quantified along with a brief discussion of conservation status for each species.
ZooBank.—Arthroleptella draconella: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:341BABC2-63A8-4C60-A306-D232E92ECE69
Arthroleptella atermina: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AC23D804-3075-40DB-9852-624C32A51547
Arthroleptella kogelbergensis: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AA573B06-BA81-4B84-B436-5F5CCDF1D892.
Acknowledgements
Sarah Davies, Atherton de Villiers, and many colleagues at CapeNature are thanked for assistance with field work. We thank Michael Cunningham, Krystal Tolley, Daniel Goedbloed, Abeda Dawood, Gill Baker and John Measey for advice and support with laboratory analyses. We are also grateful to two anonymous referees who provided extensive and valuable comment. This research was partially supported by the WWF-SA Table Mountain Fund ZA1256 (Genetic diversity and conservation status of reptiles and amphibians of the Cape Fold Mountains) and the National Research Foundation grant to A. Channing.
Supplemental Material
Online supplemental material is available for this article available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2017.1324918.