''Leptobrachella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

in the family

Megophryidae Megophryidae, commonly known as goose frogs, is a large family of frogs native to the warm southeast of Asia, from the Himalayan foothills eastwards, south to Indonesia and the Greater Sunda Islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, and extending to th ...

. Members of Leptobrachella are found throughout

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

including on

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and the

Natuna Islands ''(Sacred Ocean, Fortune Land) , image_map = , pushpin_map = Indonesia Riau Islands#Indonesia Sumatra#Indonesia#South China Sea , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Riau Islands##Location in Sumatra##Location in I ...

. They are sometimes referred to as Borneo frogs, slender-armed frogs, or dwarf litter frogs. The genus contains over 82 species with 25 found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

alone.

Description

''Leptobrachella'' are small frogs that are not easily seen as they are well camouflaged on the ground. However, their advertisement call is loud, and they can be abundant along streams. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s of ''Leptobrachella'' are unusual in their

vermiform Vermiform (ˈvərməˌfôrm) describes something shaped like a worm. The expression is often employed in biology and anatomy to describe usually soft body parts or animals that are more or less tubular or cylindrical. The word root is Latin, ''ve ...

or eel-like appearance. The transition from the narrow, cylindrical trunk into the strong tail is nearly seamless, and the tail fin is very low. This body shape is interpreted as an adaptation to a

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

life style: ''Leptobrachella'' tadpoles live in the gravel beds of small streams. In '' Leptobrachella mjobergi'' where more detailed observations have been made, tadpoles have unusually mobile head and trunk. While smaller tadpoles seem to use existing interstitial spaces, larger ones can actively push their way through gravel.

Consumption & Reproduction

Leptobrachella are commonly known as Leaf-Litter Frogs. They are carnivorous amphibians, consuming about any insect, such as mosquitoes, spiders, grasshoppers, & butterflies (Cheng, 2021). In terms of reproduction, they lay their eggs in the water, such as ponds. Eventually those eggs hatch into larvae called - tadpoles. These tadpoles have tails & internal gills (Cheng, 2021).

Location

Leptobrachella are usually found in the forests of Southeast Asia; however they can be found in southwestern Cambodia and adjacent to Thailand (Cheng, 2021). Morever, Leptobrachella is a brand new species, with 82 species in the world, currently. This number is expected to rise as scientists continue to search for more toads in Asia (Cheng, 2021).

Species

There are 45 species recognised in the genus ''Leptobrachella'':

References

Cheng, Shi, S.-C., Li, J., Liu, J., Li, S.-Z., & Wang, B. (2021). A new species of the Asian leaf litter toad genus Leptobrachella Smith, 1925 (Anura, Megophryidae) from northwest Guizhou Province, China. ZooKeys, 1021(8), 81–107. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1021.60729 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2142033 Megophryidae Amphibian genera Frogs of Asia Taxa named by Hobart Muir Smith