Overview
- The newly described species—Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis, N. uhehe, and N. saliensis—come from Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains.
- Genetic data extracted from specimens collected over 120 years ago, combined with morphology and field records, clarified long‑confused populations.
- The findings recast Nectophrynoides viviparus as a complex of isolated lineages rather than a single widespread species.
- These toads practice true live birth, a mode seen in fewer than 1% of frogs and toads, with more than 100 embryos counted in a single female.
- Researchers warn that fragmented forests, deforestation, mining, and climate change threaten these localized populations, noting related species already extinct in the wild or unrecorded since 2003; the study was published Nov. 6 in Vertebrate Zoology.