A new cryptic frog of the genus Boophis from the northwestern rainforests of Madagascar

Abstract

We describe a new species of arboreal frog of the Boophis mandraka group (Anura: Mantellidae) from Manongarivo Special Reserve in north‐western Madagascar. This new species is morphologically similar to the other species of this group: B. liami, B. mandraka, and B. solomaso. It differs by its advertisement calls which are a regular series of frequency‐modulated whistling notes of 61–82 milliseconds duration. Analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene grouped these four species in a single clade but was unable to assess relationships within this clade. Pairwise genetic divergence of the new species to related taxa in this gene fragment was 5.3–8.3%, indicating a long isolated evolutionary history.