Calophrynus brevis Boulenger, 1896

Scherz, Mark D., Schmidt, Luca, Crottini, Angelica, Miralles, Aurélien, Rakotoarison, Andolalao, Raselimanana, Achille P., Köhler, Jörn, Glaw, Frank & Vences, Miguel, 2021, Into the Chamber of Horrors: A proposal for the resolution of nomenclatural chaos in the Scaphiophryne calcarata complex (Anura: Microhylidae), with a new species-level phylogenetic hypothesis for Scaphiophryninae, Zootaxa 4938 (1), pp. 392-420 : 409

Calophrynus brevis Boulenger, 1896

Name-bearing type: Holotype BMNH 1947.2 .7.42, from “S.W. Madagascar ” according to the original description.

The holotype of this nomen is in good state of preservation, allowing the examination of most or all characters relevant for taxonomic assignment. Although it is smaller than most other adult specimens typically assigned to S. brevis and therefore may be a subadult, its size is similar to one small-sized adult male collected by us (ZSM 577/2000; Table 1). The general body shape and absence of dorsolateral folds or a sharp dorsolateral color border (i.e., a clearly delimited boundary between the colors of the dorsum and flanks) differentiate the specimen from those of the S. calcarata complex, and confirm that Scaphiophryne brevis ( Boulenger, 1896) has been correctly applied by previous researchers (e.g., Blommers-Schl̂sser & Blanc 1991; Glaw & Vences 2007; Vieites et al. 2009). D’Cruze et al. (2009) reported this species from the Onilahy River valley. Scaphiophryne brevis seems to exhibit at least two pronounced color morphs, one with a diffuse dorsolateral color border and typically a light midvertebral stripe (first row of Fig. 3 ), and one that is more marbled (second row of Fig. 3 ). A potential third color morph with green elements is figured in Glaw & Vences 2007 (page 448), and discussed in the context of Pseudohemisus verrucosus below. These color morphs are not related to sex.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Individuals in life of the three species of Scaphiophryne in the subgenus Pseudohemisus according to the classification proposed in the present paper: Scaphiophryne brevis from Ifaty (A–E), Kirindy (F–G) and Isalo (H); S. calcarata from Pic St. Louis near Tolagnaro (I–K), Ambalavao (L), Isalo (Ilakaka) (M–N), Sakaviro (O) and near Anja (P); S. obscura from Isalo (Q), Kirindy (R–V), Ankarafantsika (W), and Bongolava Plateau (X). Photos by F. Glaw, J. Lobon-Rovira, A. Miralles, G. M. Rosa, and M. Vences.