''Leptobrachella kajangensis'', also known as the Kajang slender litter frog, is a species of

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and only known from its type locality, a small cave near the top of Gunung Kajang (=Mount Kajang), on Tioman Island, a small island located 32 km off the east coast of

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

Description

The type series consists of two adult males measuring in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

—a relatively large size for the genus ''Leptolalax'' (now ''Leptobrachella''). The type locality is a cave, and the type specimens were observed calling near the edge of a pond in the cave. Some

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 were collected from the same pond and assumed to represent the same species. There is also an earlier collection of tadpoles from a lower altitude on the same mountain that are morphologically similar to the ones at the type locality but that differ in colouration; they might represent another species.

Biogeography

Tioman Island was connected with

as late as the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

. However, Grismer ''et al.'' considered it unlikely that ''Leptolalax kajangensis'' could have dispersed over flat, low-lying landscape to Gunung Kajang; instead, they suggest that the presence of this species on Tioman Island represents much older

vicariance Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

, that is, the species (or its ancestors) would have reached Tioman Island when it was still part of a larger mountainous landscape.

References

External links

Amphibian and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia - ''Leptolalax kajangensis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2239791 kajangensis Amphibians of Malaysia Endemic fauna of Malaysia Amphibians described in 2004 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Larry Lee Grismer Taxa named by Jesse L. Grismer